BSC: The New Class - Krista's Mini Series
by YellowRoseOfTexas
Summary: #1 Vanessa's Great Idea- Complete! (ch. 1-9) #2 Carolyn and the Trouble With Twins - Now started! (ch.11-?)
1. The Saga Begins Again

Disclaimer: The characters in this story are Ann M. Martin's, not mine. If I do decided later on to make up my own character, I will put a star by his or her name when I first introduce them so you will know that I have created this character myself. The plot of this story, however, is mine.  
  


Prologue

  
  


For one brief moment, Mallory Pike had her house to herself. She wasn't used to being left alone very often, and when it finally happened, it just seemed strange. 

Luckily her friends would be arriving any minute to liven things up. And some of her family members would be returning from various locations. Mallory looked at the clock. She had scheduled the party to begin five minutes ago, but she knew better than to expect them to arrive on time. 

Adam, Jordan, and Byron, the fifteen-year old triplets, were all being initiated as members of Stoneybrook's elite varsity football team. Although only sophomores, they were already making names for themselves. Mal could only hope that they would stay out of serious trouble. 

Fourteen-year-old Vanessa was out, but would be returning shortly with her best friend, Haley Braddock, whom she had invited to spend the night. The girls had been talking on the phone all afternoon. The rest of the Pike siblings were spending the night with friends. 

The doorbell rang, Mal answered it, and was greeted by Kristy Thomas and Shannon Kilbourne. Shannon's sporty white Camero was parked outside. Walking up the stairs behind them were Abby and Anna Stevenson. The girls all came in, dragging duffel bags and pillows. 

Five minutes after that, Claudia Kishi, Stacey McGill, Mary Anne Spier let themselves in. Mal's best friend, Jessi Ramsey arrived shortly afterwards. Vanessa returned with Haley, and both girls bolted upstairs to her room. Suddenly, the Pike house came back to life. 

"Mal, I'm _starving._ Can we order pizza now?" 

"...Freshman initiation. It'll be hilarious. I wish you could be there." 

"The triplets are all playing varsity this year. Yeah, even Byron..." 

"Claud, you CUT your hair! It's so cute. Are those red streaks permanent?" 

When Dawn arrived ten minutes later, there was a rush to say hello to her. Dawn had been on vacation with her family and hadn't seen her friends much all summer. It was a tough choice, but she planned to go all the way back to California for college. Ever since she was ten, she had planned to go to Pepperdine University. 

"...Yeah, me and Sunny are going to be roommates. And we'll be suitemates with Maggie and Jill, " she said, referring to her friends in California, the We Love Kids Club. 

"Wow, " Mary Anne sighed. Abby and Kristy looked equally awestruck. The three of them were planning on attending the nearby University of Hartford and living at home for the first year. They couldn't help feeling a little envious when they heard about their friends' plans for college. 

They weren't the only former members of the Babysitters Club who would still be in Stoneybrook, though. Claudia, Mallory, and Jessi were all still attending Stoneybrook High. Mal and Jessi were going to be juniors this year, and Claud would be a senior. 

Claudia had been held back when she was in eighth grade. She was forced to repeat the seventh grade. At the time, it seemed like the most terrible thing that could have happened to her. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She gained an extra year to prepare for high school, and by the time she was a freshman, she was caught up. She began making better grades, mostly B's and even a few A's. 

As for everyone else... Anna would be attending Julliard in New York. Stacey and Shannon were going to be roommates at Columbia University in New York. 

Mallory could tell that Claudia was getting a little sick of hearing about college, though. Earlier, she had been talking excitedly about initiating the freshman into SHS , but once Dawn got everyone started on college, she quieted down a lot. Mal changed the subject. 

"Pizza time. Let me take your orders, guys." 

That did it. Everyone was hungry, and pizza was a must-have. The girls were in the process of ordering when Vanessa and Haley crept down the stairs to join them. Upon spotting them, Claudia's face broke into a huge smile. _Freshman,_ she thought deviously. She was having a flash of inspiration, similar to those of Kristy Thomas. She could just see it. Vanessa and Haley on the first day of school, singing "I'm a Little Teapot" wearing diapers on their heads. Vanessa and Haley kissing the feet of the senior guys. She has been waiting for it every since she got it herself as a freshman. Vanessa and Haley dancing to the fish song... she cackled with delight. 

Stacey heard her and gave her a Look. Claudia laughed and shook her head. 

While Mal, was on the phone ordering the pizza, Vanessa and Haley waited patiently. They had practiced what they were going to say all day over the phone, but somehow it didn't seem like enough. But they both knew they had to do it now, while everyone was still here to hear it. 

Mal hung up, and was about to start up a conversation with her friends who had grown quiet for a moment. But before she had the chance, Vanessa spoke up. 

"Hey...guys," she said a little awkwardly, "Me and Haley have something we want to talk to you about. All of you." That got everyone curious, and they all moved in towards the two younger girls looking interested in what they had to say. 

"Vanessa had an idea, "Haley added. "Actually, I should probably say she borrowed an idea." 

"Right," Vanessa cut in, not wanting Haley to tell all of it, "I borrowed it from you, Kristy. With your help and... permission, we'd like to start a babysitters' club. We're hoping maybe you could teach us some things and help us get started and we'd sort of..." 

"...pick up where you left off," Haley finished. 

Before they were done, Kristy was already beaming. Not only was she thrilled at the idea of another babysitters club, but she was honored that Vanessa and Haley were asking for help from the originators of the club. 

"Well, " Kristy instantly had a speech prepared, "I guess I speak for all of us when I say..._of course you have permission! _(everyone laughed a little) In fact, you have our blessing. We'd be glad to show you how we did things. Gosh, there are so many things... the club notebook, Kid-Kits, advertising, club dues--" 

"But its not as bad as it sounds, " teased Claudia. Kristy stuck out her tongue. 

"Oh, but it doesn't sound bad at all!" Haley exclaimed, taking Claudia a little too seriously. 

"The point is, we'll help you get everything together. So when is your first meeting?" Kristy asked. 

"First meeting?" echoed Vanessa, looking a little overwhelmed. "We're not quite sure who's in our club yet! We're going to ask Becca and Charlotte to join. And Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold. I can't think of anyone else." 

"That's plenty to start out with," Mary Anne said gently, "I'm sure you'll do fine." 

Vanessa and Haley nodded, but they still looked a little uncertain. 

"We'll have our first meeting as soon as we figure out who's going to be in the club. It'll probably be at Haley's house since she has her own phone line. We'll probably vote on club officers and see if we can get any calls then. If any of you would like to attend our first meeting to help us get started, we'd really appreciate it." Vanessa suddenly sounded very firm and confident. 

A young Kristy Thomas was emerging.   
  
  


There's MORE! Keep going!


	2. The First Meeting

  


Authors Note: My first reviewer informed me that I had made a mistake. In the BSC series, Claudia was eventually put back in the eighth grade with her friends. I guess I didn't know that because I didn't read many of the later books. However, it works well with what I had already planned for the story for Claudia to be a senior while Vanessa and Haley are freshman. So I am going to leave things the way there are.  
  
  


On Monday afternoon, I arrived at Haley's (a little later than I meant to) for the first official meeting of the new BSC. I walked in just as the digital clock on Haley's nightstand read 5:15. Actually, I had intended to be a little early, but instead I was right on time. During study hall, we had decided to meet from 5:30-6:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. However, today we needed a little more time because this meeting was special. We were going to use the first fifteen minutes to vote on officers and talk with the former BSC members that were attending our meeting to help get us started. 

Before I tell you anything about what happened at the meeting, I ought to give you a few details about the club. Haley and I finalized our list of members during the last few days of summer, after we'd brought up the idea at Mallory's slumber party. Then we called each one of them personally to tell them about the club. 

When we called our friend Charlotte Johannsen, she was ecstactic and wanted to hold a meeting as soon as we possibly could get one together. A few years ago, we got to know Charlotte because we all had the same baby-sitters... none other than the Baby-sitters Club. When we first met her, she was extremely shy and it was hard to get to know her. She's loosened up a lot around us, but she still has trouble meeting new people. Charlotte is smart, so smart in fact that she skipped a grade when she was younger, which put her in the same grade as Becca. She's in the eighth grade, while Haley and I are in the ninth, but none of that matters much. (In fact, everyone else in the new BSC is in the eighth grade. Haley and I are the oldest.) What else about Charlotte? Well, she's very pretty, but she won't admit it. She's got this beautiful, thick chestnut colored hair that's nearly to her waist and big brown eyes with long lashes. The guys drool over her. She's an only child, but she often says she wishes she had brothers and sisters. She HATES the stereotype that all only children are spoiled brats, which is understandable. Charlotte is a very kind and giving person, and I cannot fathom how anyone could accuse her of being a spoiled brat. 

Becca Ramsey called me with a million questions about the club. Jessi had mentioned it to her after the slumber party. I tried to answer them all. Becca can ask questions until she's blue in the face. Of all my friends, she's the drama queen. Literally. Last year, she was the star of the middle school one-act play and had a large role when the drama club put on "Charlotte's Web." (She was Charlotte. Which was ironic considering that is also the name of her best friend.) It's funny because Becca used to be ever more shy than Charlotte, but once she discovered her passion for acting, she came out of her shell. Becca comes from a family of performers... her older sister is a dancer, and I think her parents sing and play guitar, and her little brother, John Philip will inevitably fall into one of those categories as well. Anyway, as for her looks... she looks just like her sister. 

Then there's Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold. Sometimes you can't help but grouping them together. Whenever I call one of them, I end up talking to the other one, too. Like, I'll call to ask Marilyn what happened on "Gilmore Girls" and if Carolyn's home, she'll pick up the phone and join in on the conversation. I remember how they used to dress alike and had the same hairstyle and NOBODY could tell them apart. (Except maybe their parents.) I would see them both at school and we'd all call them "Marilyn-or-Carolyn." They both hated the nickname immensely, which is what convinced them to go with different looks and different hairstyles. Its been that way ever since. 

Marilyn wears hers in long layers that start at her chin and fall past her shoulders. She's also wearing glasses now, and she wears simple, yet stylish clothes that always make her look elegant and much older than thirteen. She's really into music. She's going to be part of the high school marching band this year, which only a few middle school students are allowed to do. She plays several instruments... the French Horn for school, plus the piano, the guitar, and the violin. As for her personality, she's very reserved and sensible. Mature, too. 

Now, in contrast, here's Carolyn. She still keeps her hair short. Right now, she has it chin length with really cool highlights. Some blonde and red streaks all mixed in with her natural light brown color. Out of all of her various styles, I think I like this one the best. Her clothes are wild; she shops at places like the Rave and Gadzooks. (Whereas Marilyn wouldn't be caught dead in there, but would be much happier at the Gap or the Limited.) Carolyn likes science; actually, she loves it. We all find this obsession and the lab in her basement to be on the strange side. Its even weirder when you combine that with her other obsession: punk rock. 

So there you have Marilyn, the Mature one and Carolyn, the Weird one. 

Then there's the girl who I like to call my best friend: Haley Braddock. She's one of the coolest people I know, and although we're really different, we rarely fight with each other. Haley has a laid-back attitude about pretty much everything. She's the kind of person you can count on. When I got the idea for the New Baby-sitters Club, I went straight to Haley for help because I knew she'd be willing. Haley's probably so good at helping people out because she's been doing it for her brother for so many years. Her 12-year-old brother Matt is deaf and communicates using American Sign Language. He also reads lips, but its not always easy to do. Haley is fluent in sign language, and she often translates for her brother. I've never heard her complain about it. Not once. Like I said before, she's very cool. She's a little like Carolyn (although not nearly as weird) because they both love the same punk bands, and they go to concerts together. She's also a bit like me because she appreciates poetry. I got her started on that. Haley's the only blonde among us; she used to always have short hair and a long rattail down her back. Recently, she cut off the rattail and pinned in to her bulletin board in her room . She also grew her super-short hair out to her shoulders and started wearing it flipped out. She dresses the way she feels- sometimes a little preppy, sometimes a little punk. 

Then there's me. What can I say about me? One, I've got seven brothers and sisters which makes for an interesting family life. Two, I'm a poet and I know it. And it annoys the mess out of some people I know when I rhyme what I say, but sometimes I seriously can't help it. Then again, sometimes I do it intentionally to annoy people like my thirteen-year-old brother, Nicky. And three, I daydream a lot and let my mind wander off into outerspace, kind of like I was doing now... 

But I think I'm starting to come back to reality. Let's get back to what was happening. I was the last to arrive for our first meeting. Not a single person was late. Haley was sitting on her futon with Kristy Thomas and Claudia Kishi talking about all things Baby-sitters Club. Becca and Charlotte sat on the floor busy painting their toenails tangerine orange. And Marilyn and Carolyn were sprawled on the bed leafing through some magazines. 

I pulled out the chair from Haley's computer desk and sat down. I stuck a number two pencil behind my ear, trying to look like a professional. Crossing my legs, I looked around. When my eyes landed on Claudia, a felt a little wary of her. Boy, she really got us good. 

Today had been a monumental day in my life. My first day of high school. Haley and I had been through it all... getting lost in the halls of Stoneybrook High, getting overwhelmed with new classes and new people, and the best part (or maybe the most embarrassing part)... Freshman Initiation. 

Claudia was the senior that had been in charge of me and Haley for the day, and she got us good. The day began with Claudia picking us up at 7:00 AM and dressing us up in the most ridiculous, _hilarious_ outfits ever. Haley's was a tacky purple dress that was way too big for her. Claud accesorized her with a purple feather boa, fishnet tights, and snowboots. The look was completed with her purple lipstick and eyeshadow, which was smeared all over her face. My outfit was just as crazy. I had a makeup job like Haley's and I wore lime green granny pants with suspenders and a bright yellow blouse with puffy sleeves. I don't know where Claud found my footwear... matching yellow galoshes. 

Of course we weren't the only ones this had happened to. Almost all of the freshman had their own personal seniors to torment them. Its a Stoneybrook tradition-- the seniors torment the "fish" (or freshman) on the first day of school. Anyway, now that was over and Haley and I were back in our normal clothes. Claudia was still wearing her senior t-shirt that said "Skin the Fish" across the front with a picture of fish bones. 

My eye caught sight of something that made me snap to attention. The clock now read 5:18. It was already way past time to start. I cleared my throat. 

"Ahem. Um, this meeting of the new Baby-sitters Club should probably start, dontcha'll think?" 

To my surprise, that quieted everyone down, and they looked at me as though they expected me to say something. Kristy smiled at me, probably thinking of the old Baby-sitters Club. 

"Anyway, we should do what we came here to do. Elect officers. Like we decided during study hall today, there will be six offices, one for each of us. A president, a vice-president, a secretary, a treasurer, an alternate officer, and a historian... that's the person who does the club scrapbook." 

"Cool! Club scrapbook? Who thought of that?" Claudia ventured. 

"Vanessa did," Haley answered. Kristy was looking at me and nodding her head with approval. 

I went on. "So, we'll vote the way we planned. Taking nominations for each office and voting on them as they come up. When it is finalized, Haley will write the name of the person and their office on her chalk board. Volunteer yourself if you want to... okay, any nominations?" 

Everyone remained quiet, pondering my question. Then Charlotte spoke up. 

"From what we've seen so far, Vanessa is a good choice for president. She's already acting like our leader... and afterall, the club was her idea. Vanessa for president!" 

I blushed a little, pleased to have been nominated. 

"I second that, " Haley added. Everyone else nodded in agreement. Haley scrawled my name on the board first and wrote down president next to it. 

"Thanks, guys, " I said, "Okay, then my first act as president will be to nominate Haley as vice-president. For one thing, she helped me get everything started and plus, we'll be using her room and her phone line three times a week." 

It was unanimously agreed to make Haley our vice-president. Beaming, she wrote her own name and office on the board. After further nominations, we picked Charlotte to be the secretary of the club. She would be in charge of keeping track of the club record book. We all knew that Char was organized and responsible, and would do a good job. We then picked Carolyn to be the club treasurer. It basically came down to who was the best at mathematics since it seemed to be the fair way to decide... Carolyn was it. Becca is creative and artistic. A scrapbook would be a great project for her. So she became our club historian. Marilyn had wanted to have an easy job all along because she anticipated being busy with the band. The position of alternate officer was perfect for her. 

Before we could get into a discussion about club dues and the record book and the notebook and EVERYTHING else there was to talk about... the phone rang. 

I shrieked out of suprise and also pure delight. Everyone giggled at me. 

"Vanessa, you answer it," said Haley as it rang again, "It should be you." 

I gathered all my courage and picked up the phone. "Hello... Baby-sitters Club." 

Charlotte squealed in delight and muffled the noise with a pillow. Beside her, Becca did the same. 

"Yes, hello, "said the woman on the phone, "My name is *Shonda Tiner*. I read about your club in the newspaper. (I mentally patted myself on the back for thinking to advertise in the Sunday paper.) I need a baby-sitter for my two daughters on Friday evening from 7:00 to no later than 10:00." 

"Alright. What are your daughters names and ages? We like to keep a record of our clients," I said, hoping I sounded mature. 

"Of course. *Sadie* is six and *Sealie* is four," she said. "We only have the two of them so far." 

"Right. Sadie and Sealie, six and four," I said, while gesturing to Charlotte to write it in the record book. Haley made a disgusting face when I said their names. I turned around so I wouldn't have to look at her. "Well, Mrs. Tiner, I'll find out who's available and call you back." I hung up. 

"Haley!" I scolded. "Don't DO that. You almost made me laugh while I was on the phone with Mrs. Tiner." 

"Sorry," she said. But she could barely keep a straight face and neither could I. 

"Sadie and Sealie...those sound like pet names!" Kristy exclaimed with a horrified look on her face. "Kind of like... _Buffy and Pinky!_" She and Claudia both burst out laughing. 

"Huh?" I asked. "I don't get it." 

"Oh, Kristy's just being dramatic. Her first babysitting job with the BSC actually turned out to be pet sitting. And then later Jessi had that incident with the Mancusi's..." Claudia explained. Becca nodded, remembering. "So Kristy's all bent out of shape about pet-sitting." 

"I will NEVER do it again," Kristy added. "Vanessa, are you sure these are girls and not pets?" 

Yes, she called them her daughters, " I assured her. "Guys, focus! Charlotte, who's free?" 

We had already given Charlotte a list with our plans for the week during study hall so we'd be prepared for this kind of thing. She skimmed over it. I knew I wasn't free that night. It was Claire's birthday. 

"Haley and me," she said. "But I don't really want it. I've already got too many things going this week. Haley, how about you?" 

Haley nodded, looking pleased. "Sure... even though they have horrid names." 

"Enough about those names," I said. "I've got an idea. Since she's a new client, Haley should call her back to say that she'll be sitting so that she can introduce herself." 

Everyone agreed. I noticed Kristy and Claudia looking impressed. 

Haley called Mrs. Tiner. (She even managed to say the girls' names without giggling, thank goodness.) During the remainder of the meeting, we talked about school and the Baby-sitters Club. Unfortunately, we didn't get anymore calls. I figured we needed to send some fliers around... especially to people who remembered the old BSC. 

I wasn't too disappointed about that. Afterall, I was the president. And Haley was about to embark on the first job of the BSC. (And it would NOT be pet-sitting!) Things were looking up.   
  
  


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	3. All in the Family

I came home from the meeting in a very good mood. Especially good considering I usually hate the first day of school, and consequently end up in a _bad_ mood for the rest of the day. But even school had been great, what with freshman initiation and looking forward to the first Baby-sitters Club meeting. And then, to top it all off, the meeting had been a success. I know we only got one call, but I saw it as a victory. Especially since it was from a new client, who would help spread the word. The rest of the old BSC clients would be calling us, too. I was sure of it. 

When I came in my house, Mom was in the kitchen preparing baked chicken, rice, and a green salad for dinner. Dad was helping her. Margo and Claire were pouring glasses of tea and setting the table, which meant that we would be eating soon. Adam, Jordan, Byron, and Nicky were in the backyard tossing around a football. I knew Dad probably has to _force_ the triplets to include Nicky. First of all, they rarely include him unless they think it will be to their benefit. If Nicky has something they want, then suddenly they're his best friends. Secondly, ever since the three of them got chosen for the varsity football team, they've been acting like total hotshots and making the rest of us in the Pike family want to puke. 

I went upstairs to the room that Mallory and I share. She was in there, lying on her bed and reading "Jane Eyre." That was one of the books she had read for her summer reading list. Now she was re-reading it, even though she didn't have to. She looked like she was enjoying it; she didn't even notice me come in. Mal and I are alike in that aspect-- we both love reading. 

We love writing, too. But she would prefer to write children's fiction, while I would write a bazillion poems instead. In fact, I think that's a fair estimate of how many poems I have written in my lifetime. I have several fat notebooks stacked in boxes in my closet, all full of poetry. I've been writing it ever since I was eight years old. 

I even have one notebook full of poems that I've written while vacationing at the house we rent ever year during our summer vacation to Sea City. Something about sitting in a window seat on the third story of the house during a thunderstorm inspires me. The first poem in my Sea City collection goes like this: "We're back, we're here, we've come once more, to our gingerbread house by the white seashore!" And then a whole lot of other rambling after that. The first line is a classic, according to Byron. 

I sat down at my desk and opened up my brand new poetry notebook. I hadn't written a single poem in it yet. After a couple of moments of staring at a blank page in thought, I had dreamed up an idea for a new poem. I was just about to start writing it when the phone interrupted me... 

"Hello?" 

"Hey, Nessa, its Becca." 

"Couldn't stand to go without hearing my voice one more time today?" I teased. 

"Hardy-har-har," Becca replied, practically shouting over the loud, upbeat song in the background. "Jessi, TURN THAT DOWN! I'm on the phone... (Jessi said something indistinctly.)... I don't care if you have to practice high-kicking for drill team. You should stop before you kick yourself in the face and break your own nose!" 

I cracked up at that one. 

"Sorry, " Becca said to me."Jessi thinks she has to dance and stretch 24/7 now that she's a junior lieutenant on the Brookettes. Personally, I wish she'd just focus on ballet." 

"Drill team looks kind of fun. I'm thinking of dropping P.E. to take the prep-class that they offer to freshmen. Besides, I hate P.E. Sounds like a nice alternative." 

"Are you kidding?" Becca interjected. "Do you have any idea how hard they work those girls? Give me laps and kick-boxing any day." 

"Well, we disagree," I said, knowing that we usually dropped it when one of us said that. It was a nice arrangement. "Anyway, what were you calling about?" 

"The scrapbook. I think we'll need to take a picture of the original club members for the cover. And maybe we could have a picture of us with the old Baby-sitters Club, too. I was thinking I should buy it soon. Only, then I remembered, we haven't collected any dues so--" 

"Dues!" I suddenly remembered that one very important aspect of the club and smacked my forehead with the heel of my hand. "Well... we'll have to tell everyone to bring their dollar to Wednesday's meeting. Then we can give it all to you to spend on the scrapbook." 

"Actually, I don't have anything to do, so I was going to get Jessi to take me to Hobby Lobby to buy the stuff right now," Becca interjected. "I'll just use some of my birthday money , and I'll bring the receipt to the meeting. You guys can pay me back little by little. Because there are still other things to buy, you know. I'll get Charlotte to come with me so she can buy us a really good record book with dividers to schedule jobs and keep track of information about each client. And then we'll need to buy a club notebook." 

"Wait, I have a new poetry notebook that I haven't written in. I'll just give that over to the club and buy myself a new one. The notebook is my donation to the club." I sighed, realizing I had already completely lost the inspiration for the poem I was about to write. Oh, well. 

"Great, one less thing to buy. I'll call Charlotte and--" 

"Mallory, Vanessa... dinner's ready!" That was Claire calling from downstairs. 

"Hey, I gotta go eat dinner, Becca." 

"Okay, talk to you later!" 

"See ya." 

Mal sat up and put down her book. Like obedient children, we both marched downstairs for another Pike family dinner. Of course, Mallory had to venture a question about my phone conversation. "YOU want to join the drill team prep class? My sister?" 

I sighed. One of these days Mal is going to have to realize that I am not her. I'm interested in things she would never dream of doing. Dancing is one of them. 

"It sounds like fun." I answered vaguely. Then I sat down at my usual place at the dinner table. Our family bowed our heads while Jordan said the blessing. Then we all dug in. 

With ten people in our family, we don't have quiet dinners. Nicky is your typical thirteen-year-old boy, constantly talking with his mouth full. I remember one time when Margo was sitting across from him, she got so disgusted at the site of his half-chewed food that she puked. (Margo has a very weak stomach.) 

Anyway, the topic of the night turned out to be Adam. To tell you the truth, I was sort of hoping to be the center of attention so that I could go on and on about the Baby-sitters Club, but Adam was having "a crisis", as he put it. He picked today to dump Shelly, his girlfriend of three weeks. Now she was mad at him, and reacting badly to the whole situation. 

"Seriously, mom, she whined to practically every girl in the school..." 

I stuck a forkful of salad in my mouth, and tried my best to stay out of the conversation. I knew if I opened my mouth to speak, I would end up saying something to make Adam mad. The truth is, I didn't blame Shelly. I thought it was rotten of him to dump her on the first day of school. 

Poor, misguided Adam just does not know how to treat a girl. His idea of romance is taking the girl to watch his football practice. That's probably why his relationships end almost as soon as they begin. And Jordan's not much better, although somehow he manages to hang on to a girlfriend a little longer than Adam. Byron, on the other hand, is the only one with real potential. He's much more sensitive and gentle than the other two. Oddly enough, he's never had a girlfriend. I think it's just because he's shy. 

And if I'm going to call Byron shy, I guess I'll have to say the same for myself. I've never had a boyfriend, but I do crush a lot. Then I just pour all of my feelings into my poetry. This is going to sound pathetic, but usually by the time I have all my emotions on paper, that's enough for me. 

"Guess what Friday is," said my dad, with the goofiest grin ever plastered across his face. 

Claire giggled with delight. And with that, the focus was off of Adam and now on Claire and her big tenth birthday party. Luckily, I'd gone shopping early this year. Claire's birthday always falls at a hectic time of the year since school has just begun. So this year, while shopping for my own school clothes, I also picked out a beautiful silver turtleneck for her that almost sparkled in the right light. It would look great with the black fuzzy purse and matching hat that Mallory and Margo picked out for her together. Claire was at the age where she wanted desperately to look grown-up. Being the baby of the family was a tough job. 

After dinner, it was mine and Nicky's turn to do the dishes. Our dishwasher was broken, so we had to wash everything by hand, which was a pain. Just as I was wiping the last fork clean, the doorbell rang. Margo answered it, and called out, "It's Haley and Matt!" 

Haley and Matt walked into the kitchen to greet us. Haley hardly ever bothers to call me on the phone. We live close enough for her to just come over, and usually she would rather talk to me in person. It's a best friend thing between us. So I wasn't surprised to see her. 

"Hi," I said to her and waved for Matt. He waved back and then immediately began signing something to Nicky. Nicky signed back, and both boys laughed as they headed upstairs together. 

"So," she said. "I can't stop thinking about it." 

"What?" I asked, knowing what she would say. 

"The Baby-sitters Club," she replied just as I had suspected. 

I smiled. "I know. Isn't it exciting?" 

She took a seat at the bar. "I can't believe I've got the first job. And for people we don't even know. Guess that ad in the paper really was a great idea." 

"Thank you," I beamed. "We can't stop there, though. We ought to pass out fliers all over the neighborhood and--" 

"Oh, that reminds me," she interjected. "Claudia hung around after the meeting, and asked me if we needed a logo. I said that we did, and she told me she had it all figured out. So I asked her what she had in mind, and she drew this for me." 

Haley carefully slid a piece of paper out of the folder she had brought with her and placed it on the kitchen counter. Claud had carefully drawn the original Baby-sitters Club logo, but with one alteration. Next to the block letters that spelled out "THE" were a cluster of three balloons. Each balloon had a letter on it, that spelled out the work "NEW." 

"This is perfect!" I gushed. I swear I almost wanted to cry. There is nothing like seeing your own idea bloom right before your eyes into something bigger and better than you could ever imagine. 

"I know!" Haley's eyes lit up with delight. 

"Wow," I added. For a moment, both of us were speechless. 

"Tell you what," Haley finally said. "I can scan this on my computer, and get my mom to make copies on colored paper when she goes to work. We can tape them on doors. What do you think we need... about 50 copies?" 

"At least," I said. "Tell your mom we'll pay her back when we collect enough in our dues." 

"Sure," Haley nodded. "Sounds fine." 

"Gosh, its a lot to think about," I commented. "I am _so_ glad you guys have so many good ideas. Becca is out looking for scrapbook stuff already. Which reminds me, we'll have to pay her back whenever we get enough dues piled up." 

"Dues!" Haley exclaimed. She'd just remembered them, too. 

"It's okay," I assured her. "Since we forgot about them today, we'll pay them Wednesday this time. Then I guess we'll divide it up between you and Becca." 

"Pay Becca back first," Haley said good-naturedly. 

"Okay... Oh, you know what else? Kid-Kits! We need Kid-Kits!" I cried. 

"Augh!" Haley added. "I need one by Friday. I need to bring it to Sadie and Sealie since I am a brand-new sitter for them." 

"Okay, here's what we do," I said calmly."Decorate a large box. Then get your favorite old puzzles and books and dress-up clothes and put those in." 

Haley laughed a little. "I bet Marilyn and Carolyn will make identical Kid-Kits. They don't have much of a choice, considering they used to get duplicate copies of all their toys." We both laughed at that. 

After our giggles subsided, Haley ventured a question. "What about buying toys for them?" 

"Well," I began, "If we want to buy anything, like markers and coloring books... I say, at least right now, we should buy those things independently. Later on, if we become rich, we can spend the dues on them. Right now we absolutely cannot." 

"Right," Haley nodded. "Gosh, Vanessa... you're good!" 

"Huh?" 

"You're good! I mean, you're a great president. Don't take this the wrong way, but until now, I've never seen you be so assertive. I always knew you had great ideas, but I never saw you carry them out quite like this before. I'm so impressed by you." Haley smiled at me. 

I smiled back, very flattered and probably blushing slightly. 

For the remainder of Haley's visit, we put together my Kid-Kit. Between the eight Pike kids, there were oodles of toys and books and a great collection of dress-up clothes. I discovered several unused, forgotten coloring books, which I offered to share with Haley. Mallory even gave me her old Kid-Kit box, with a hint of sadness in her eyes. 

After a couple of hours had passed, Haley realized that she and Matt needed to be getting home considering it was a school-night. So they left, and soon afterwards, I got ready to retire to my bedroom early that night. 

But later on, as I lay snug in my bed , all I could think about was what Haley had said. 

I was a great president. 


	4. Waiting Days Are Over

Waiting for the next Baby-sitters Club meeting was exhausting. I could barely concentrate throughout the next two days of school. And when I saw one of the club members at school, I would attack her with a million new ideas or questions about the club. Waiting days are long days. 

So during these long days, I found other things to think about. Such as getting out of gym class and into the drill team prep class instead. When I talked to my counselor, I found out that the class hadn't even begun yet. And it would be six weeks until I could transfer out of gym into the class. On top of all that, I had to _try out._ So if I didn't make it, I was facing a year of volleyball, basketball, and track. I am _terrible_ at all of those sports, especially track. It would be torture. 

I talked with Jessi and she offered to prepare me for auditions, which was very nice of her. I wouldn't try out for another month, but I was going to start stretching, and Jessi was going to teach me how to do her incredible high-kicks. 

What I really wanted to do more than anything, more than high-kicks, was baby-sit. I wanted a job. I was suddenly jealous that Haley got to sit for the Tiners instead of me. Which is why I could not wait for the next meeting. And somehow, my waiting days were finally over as Haley invited me in to her home on Wednesday at 5:20 for our second meeting. 

She greeted me with a worried look. 

"What's wrong?" I asked. 

"Its Charlotte," she said. "She's in my room, and she's really upset. Jake broke up with her today." 

"Today?" I exclaimed. "But school just started. And they've been going out all summer." 

"I know," Haley said glumly. She turned and walked to her room. I followed, still in disbelief. Jake Kuhn was a guy we had all known since we were nine. He used to be...well, short and fat. But he's changed a lot since then. He'd grown a lot in the seventh grade and lost weight. Plus, he'd always had nice eyes and dark curly hair which made him quite handsome. We all thought Charlotte had the perfect boyfriend. Until now, I guess. 

"Jake the Snake," I noted. Haley agreed. 

Really! How mean! To top it all off, Charlotte was crying. Becca was sitting on the floor next to her, stroking her hair and talking softly to her. 

"Sorry Char," I couldn't think of much to say. Charlotte bit her lip and nodded, her eyes overflowing. I felt bad for Charlotte, but I had a feeling that several other guys would be waiting in line to get a chance to date her. I knew better than to say so right now, though. 

Instead, I sat down in the chair by Haley's computer and stuck a pencil behind my ear. The doorbell rang and Haley went to answer it. She came back with Marilyn and Carolyn, who both appeared to have been informed about Charlotte and said pretty much the same thing I did. Again, there just wasn't much we _could_ say. It seemed to me that Charlotte was overreacting just a bit. Afterall, it wasn't like he died or anything. Then again, maybe I'll understand if I ever have a boyfriend. 

"Our second meeting is about to begin," I stated, trying to get things started early even though it wasn't quite 5:30. We needed to distract Charlotte. 

"Check this out," Becca said as she retrieved from her backpack a large, white canvas scrapbook. She had written "The New Baby-sitters Club" across the front in her silver and blue paint pens. The neat thing about the book was that on the cover there was a place for a picture. I knew Becca planned to put the picture of the New BSC with the Old BSC on the front. 

Everyone passed it around, examining it and making comments. Becca slipped Carolyn a receipt for the book. Carolyn nodded and slipped it into a manila envelope marked "BSC Treasury." 

"Dues," Carolyn reminded us. "We forgot to pay them Monday so we said we would today, remember?" 

Everyone nodded and Carolyn collected a dollar from each person and one from herself. We now had six dollars in the treasury. 

"One more thing." That was Charlotte, who had dried her tears. "I got the record book." She handed me a notebook with dividers. I passed that around too, even though it wasn't much to look it. 

"And I've got something," I said. "Here's the new club notebook. Each of you will be responsible for writing about your jobs AND reading what other people write." 

To that, I received groans. "What's this?" I asked. 

"Sounds like a lot of work," Becca complained. The others nodded. 

I shrugged. "It worked for the old BSC. It'll work for us." 

"Complaining about the notebook, are we?" The voice came from the doorway. We all looked up to find Claudia standing there. "Hey, guys. Sorry I didn't knock, Haley. Matt was opening the door to go _outside_ just as I was about to come in. I think I startled him. He asked me if I knocked and I said I didn't. For some reason he burst out laughing." 

Claudia looked extremely cool, as usual. She had on a creme-colored sleeveless turtleneck. With that, she wore a dark green corduroy skirt that fell just above her knees with a slit in the front and tall, brown leather boots. She also had on tan fishnet hose, something I'd never seen anyone wear. Her hair was pulled up in a bun with chopsticks and she was wearing three earrings. 

"What's up?" She asked, after we greeted her. "I see the meeting has officially started." She noted that the digital clock now said 5:30. 

"Yes," I confirmed. "It has." 

"Good. Because I've got some business for your club." 

"Oh, you do?" Haley said. "Great! What is it?" 

"Well, my sister Janine is in town with *James* and his brothers. Aunt Peaches and I thought it would be fun to throw her a baby shower this weekend." 

"How far along is she?" Marilyn asked. 

" I think she's at 34 weeks. Only about 6 more weeks to go." 

"Oh, goody," Charlotte said. She seemed to have forgotten her guy troubles. 

"I haven't seen her much since the wedding. Maybe a couple of times. I haven't seen her pregnant at all." I commented. 

"She's very cute," Claudia smiled thoughtfully. "She's still the same old Janine. She dresses a little more trendy now, thank goodness. But its funny to see her still talking like Webster's Dictionary while she's patting her tummy." 

We all laughed. "Anyway, what was my point?" 

"Business for the club?" Carolyn prompted. 

"Right," said Claud. But before she could get in another word, the phone rang. More business! 

Becca, who was the closest one to the phone, picked it up and answered. We all grew quiet, and I was still wondering what business Claudia had for us. 

Janine, as Claudia said, is pregnant. And in an indirect way, Haley and I were responsible for putting her together with her husband in the first place. Maybe I should start at the beginning... 

It was five years ago. Haley and I were in the same cabin at camp Mohawk and Claudia was our CIT (Counselor In Training.) Claudia was interested in a certain Japanese guy, but she didn't know his name. Well, Haley and I, along with a few of our cabinmates, tracked down this guy and found out that his name was Will Yamakawa. Claudia met Will at camp dance and they hit it off. 

Claudia and Will became penpals. They wrote letters back and forth for about a year. Then they lost touch for a year. Then Will sent Claudia a Christmas card that included his email address. They began emailing each other, but just as friends. Will and Claudia were both seeing other people. However, Claudia discovered that Will had an older brother who was three years older than Janine. After a bit of discussion, Claudia decided that despite the age difference, Janine and James (Will's brother) were perfect for each other. So Will and Claud arranged for their older siblings to meet. The rest between the two of them is history. 

Janine met James when she was eighteen, and by that time, Claudia says Janine was already ahead in many aspects of her life. She graduated early after the fall semester of her senior year and started college. She had already completed most of her first year of college by earning dual credit and taking summer classes throughout high school. In just two and a half years, she earned a bachelor's degree in physics with a minor in chemistry. She got married when she was 20 years old. (Claudia was the maid-of-honor and her little cousin Lynn, then four years old, was the flower girl. I was there.) 

Now, she's twenty-one. I think she's earning her master's degree. And she and her husband are expecting their first child. Claudia says at first this was almost frowned upon in the Kishi household. Her parents weren't completely supportive of James and Janine's decision to start a family before Janine had finished school. Janine disagreed. According to Claudia, this is one of the few things Janine's ever done that went against her family's wishes. Now Claudia says things have smoothed over. 

Becca was hanging up the phone. "Charlotte, that was Mrs. Marshall. She needs a sitter for Nina, Eleanor, and *Toby* on Friday evening, the same time Haley's sitting for the Tiners. Who's free?" 

Charlotte looked horror-stricken. "No one! I was free, but now I'm not." 

"Wait, wait! " Marilyn saved the day. "I'm free, now! It's okay. I'll take it." 

Whew! We all felt relieved. But that was almost too close to call. 

Marilyn called her back to say she'd be sitting and we all relaxed a little. I was starting to wonder if we had enough members in the Baby-sitters Club. 

"Now can I tell you about the business I bring you?" Claudia asked. 

"Yes!" Marilyn and Carolyn said, in unison. 

"Kay," Claud grinned. "Well, while Aunt Peaches is helping me throw the shower, she needs someone to look after her kids." 

Oh boy! Claudia's aunt has some pretty cute kids. There's Lynn Benedict, whom I've mentioned, the adorable five-year-old; *Russell Benedict Junior*, the three-year-old boy; and little *Kira Benedict*, the eighteen-month-old baby. 

"What day?" Charlotte asked. 

"Saturday. From 12:30 to 3:00. Aunt Peaches needs the sitter for longer than it will take to hold the shower since she's got to help me set everything up and get everything cleaned up afterwards." 

Charlotte skimmed the book. "Haley, Vanessa, Becca, and Carolyn are all free." 

Uh-oh. We hadn't ever had so many people free on the same day. Then again, we had only received three jobs in the history of the club. For a moment, it looked like none of us would back down. Then, finally... 

"I've already got a job Friday," Haley said. "One of you take it." 

Now it was Becca, Carolyn, and me. Again, we were silence. Finally, someone else spoke. 

"Either you or Becca take it. Marilyn has a recital on Saturday afternoon. I think I'll be a good sister and go watch it." So Carolyn had backed down, too. She and Marilyn exchanged a small smile. I was still waiting to see if Becca would say something. For awhile, she was quiet. I suppose something in my eyes made her change her mind because she said: 

"Vanessa, you really want the job, don't you?" 

I nodded slowly. "Well, then, it's all yours," she said. 

Beaming, I thanked her and accepted the job. Charlotte wrote me down for the job. 

"Great," said Claudia. "Aunt Peaches will be thrilled to have a sitter from the new club. When I told her about you guys, she got really excited. I think she'll be calling you a lot." 

We all beamed when she said that. It looked like we might already have a regular client. I made a mental note to see to it that the next time Becca was available to sit for the Benedicts, she got the job. 

Guess what? We got more jobs during the meeting. Becca got a job sitting for the Prezziosos, nine-year-old Jenny, six-year-old Andrea, and three-year-old *Kaylee* on Sunday afternoon. Charlotte would be baby-sitting Sunday evening for Jamie and Lucy Newton, who are nine and six, respectively. Carolyn was the last to get a job, and she was thrilled. Hers was for a new client, the *Hutchisons*, with a seven-month old baby named *Seth.* Carolyn just loves babies. 

The meeting ended at 6:30, with the phone ringing off the hook until 6:23. The fliers that we had circulated around the neighborhood most definitely had done the trick. It had been a bigger success than any of us could have imagined. We all had our first official jobs of the Baby-sitters Club lined up. Charlotte said this day should go down in baby-sitters history. She was smiling when she said it; Jake had obviously been forgotten. 

And as for me, I was exhilarated! My first official job of the Baby-sitters Club. Sitting for Claudia's adorable cousins! My waiting days were over.   
  
  
** Author's Note: Remember, the *astericks* around a characters name means this is my original character. So far, I have mostly created younger siblings for some of Ann's characters. (As well as older siblings. There are still more characters yet to come.)**   
  
_Special thanks to everyone in the BSC Legacy Club for giving me the information I needed for the next chapter! CNJ, Daisy, and Brandy... thanks a bunch!_


	5. The More, The Merrier?

  
**Dear... Diary? Dear members of the BSC?**   
_Dear, nothing. This isn't a journal, Haley. It's the club notebook! _   
**Good observation, Marilyn.**   
_Why, thank you. Anyway, Friday evening I sat for the Marshalls..._   
**...And I sat for our new clients, the Tiners. I know, Vanessa, that you told us we should really only do an entry together if we babysit together... well...**   
_In a way we sort of did. You see, Nina Marshall was given a rather fancy pair of walkie-talkies for her birthday last month. Her little brother and sister seem to like them more than she does, however._   
**And they aren't the only ones. You would not believe the range on those things! Well, we were only right nextdoor to the Marshalls, but still. Pretty good.**   
_I know. Carolyn and I used to have some, but they were really crummy. These walkie-talkies were state of the art. It was almost like talking on a cell phone with someone. Only you have to push a button every time you want to talk, of course. _   
**And I'm pushing that button right now. Marilyn, you've taken up too much of the entry already, you...you... silly-billy-goo-goo!**   
_Ha ha ha, He he he!_

Marilyn and Haley seemed to have a lot of fun writing this entry together. It rambles on and on for four pages, actually. Pretty nice way to start off our notebook. I wonder, why did everyone complain so much about writing about our baby-sitting jobs? Oh, well. It seems that Marilyn and Haley have changed their minds about that. 

I'll start off by telling you about Haley's job for our new clients. About ten minutes earlier than she was scheduled to baby-sit, she was ringing the Tiner's doorbell, armed with her brand-new Kid-Kit in the other hand. In it were the coloring books I'd given her, plus new markers and crayons. She also had some of her old story books, four books that she had borrowed from the library, and the Memory game. She had decorated the box with silver wrapping paper and out of magazine letters, she had spelled "Kid-Kit" across the lid. (She told me later that her box was "incomplete," both inside and out.) 

The door was flung open after a couple of minutes by a six-year-old girl with a wild look in her pale, blue eyes. She was wearing a Stoneybrook Elementary T-shirt, blue jeans, and running shoes. Her pale, blonde hair was in two braids with blue ribbons tied around the ends. In her hand was a walkie-talkie. Haley didn't know if anyone was on the other end. 

"Hi!" she said, in a friendly voice. "I'm Sadie! Are you Haley?" 

"Yup," Haley said. Sadie responded by darting off to tell her mom that Haley had arrived. Haley wiped her feet and let herself inside, closing the door behind her. The Tiner house was very comfortable. Not too messy, but not too neat. The furniture looked worn-in, as if it was several years old. Curled up on the couch were a chihuahua and a tiny, new kitten. Sprawled out on the floor dressing her paperdolls, was little Sealie Tiner. 

Sealie was the spitting image of Sadie only smaller, of course. Her hair was in pigtails, too, but they weren't long enough to braid. She wore faded overalls and a pale pink T-shirt. What a relief it was to see that these were typical kids, not prim and proper ones like the Prezziosos. 

"Hi-hi!" she exclaimed. Haley smiled, knowing she had heard that greeting from someone else before, but she wasn't where she had heard it. 

"Hey, there," Haley replied. "Paperdolls! I love those." 

She wasn't just saying that. Haley and I used to play paperdolls all the time when we were little. Sometimes we made our own, other times we used the ones that we got out of our "American Girl" magazines. She made a mental note to find paperdolls for her Kid-Kit. Our old ones were in bad shape so she knew that would be something else to buy. 

Sealie looked delighted to hear this and began explaining the game she was playing with the dolls to Haley. As she was doing this, her mother walked in, spraying a mist of her perfume on herself. Mrs. Tiner was dressed up in a simple black dress with gold jewlery and a black shawl draped over her shoulders. 

"Mommy looks beautiful," Sadie said, following her mother with a look of fascination. 

"Yes, she does," Haley agreed. Sadie beamed, as though the compliment had been for her. 

"Thank you," said Mrs. Tiner. "Nice to meet you in person, Haley. I'm Shonda Tinder. Mr. Tiner and I will be going out with the Marshalls tonight for their anniversary. In fact, I think they have a sitter from your club as well." 

"That's right," said Haley. 

"Thanks for coming early. That's always nice. I'm sure you and the girls will have a wonderful time. I left you some instructions posted on the refrigerator. They've already had dinner, and bedtime is at 9:00 tonight. Normally it's earlier, but when a sitter is over, its a special treat for them to stay up later." 

"Yeah!" Sealie said enthusiastically. 

"That okay with you?" asked Mrs. Tiner. 

"Of course!" said Haley. She was delighted to have the extra time to get to know the girls. 

"Great," she replied. Then she called out, "Steve? Let's get going." 

Mr. Tiner appeared in a matching black suit and tie. Mrs. Tiner promptly adjusted his tie, and then said, "Good-bye girls! Don't be too much trouble for Haley." 

"We're never any trouble, Mommy-silly-billy-goo-goo!" Sealie replied gleefully. 

Her mom smiled wearily, "Of course not, sweetie. Bye now!" And with that, their parents left. 

_Silly-billy-goo-goo!_ Haley knew where she'd heard that before. From _my_ sister! When Claire was five years old and going through a silly stage, she said that to just about everyone. 

"Sealie," Haley ventured to ask, "Who taught you the word 'silly-billy-goo-goo?'" 

"I got it from Jimmy Neutron," Sealie replied matter-of-factly. 

With that, Sadie burst out into a fit of giggles. "Not Jimmy Neutron! That's a movie!" She turned to Haley. "She means Jamie Newton. He's a big boy that lives down the street and he has a little sister named Lucy. Jamie taught her to say 'silly-billy-goo-goo' and 'hi-hi' and all sorts of funny things." 

"Silly-billy-goo-goo!" Sealie shouted, for no reason at all. 

"Ten-four!" Sadie was now talking in her walkie-talkie. "Our baby-sitter just got here. Her name is Haley, and she's pretty. Is yours there yet? Out and over." (She meant to say "over and out.") 

Immediately, the walkie-talkie answered back, quite clearly. "Yeah. Her name is Marilyn. We already know her though." 

As you can imagine, Haley was quite suprised and pleased by this. She had noticed earlier that the Marshalls and the Tiners were nextdoor neighbors. She had regretted the fact, however, that it was a little too late for the kids to play together since it would be getting dark soon. 

"Is that... Eleanor Marshall you're talking to?" Haley asked. 

"Yeah!" Sadie looked pleased that she had guessed. "How did you know?" 

"Their baby-sitter, Marilyn, is my friend. She's in the Baby-sitters Club with me." 

"What's the Baby-sitters Club?" Sealie wanted to know. Haley told her a little bit about it, and little Sealie's eyes grew wide with interest. Meanwhile, Sadie and Eleanor talked back and forth on the walkie-talkies. 

"That is so, so cool," Sealie exclaimed. "When I'm a big girl, I want to be in a baby-sitters club." 

"I bet you could be the president," said Haley. Sealie beamed. 

"Know what?" Sadie said. "These walkie-talkies are Nina Marshall's birthday present. They are very grown up, and she lets me and Eleanor play with them. I can hear Eleanor all the way from her house." Just then, the walkie-talkie interrupted her. It wasn't Eleanor; it was Marilyn! 

"Hi, is this Sadie? This is Nina, Eleanor, and Toby's baby-sitter, Marilyn. Can I talk to Haley?" 

Sadie pressed down the button to talk. "Hellooooo Marilyn! Yes, you can." She handed it over to Haley. "You have to press the button to talk and un-press it so that Marilyn can talk." 

Haley nodded obediently and followed the instructions (as if she didn't already know.) 

"Hey, Marilyn. Tell Nina these are great walkie-talkies!" 

Marilyn obediently repeated that to Nina. Then she pressed down the button to answer back. "Isn't it neat? The Marshall kids are really good friends with Sadie and Sealie." 

"I think Sadie and Sealie know Jamie and Lucy Newton, too." Haley said when it was her turn to push the button. She decided to tell Marilyn the "silly-billy-goo-goo" story when they could talk on an actual phone. 

"One of these day we're going to have to put together a play group or something. Remember when the old BSC did that?" Marilyn responded. 

(Marilyn put that part in the notebook and underlined the word 'playgroup' three times. It sounded pretty neat to me. I thought we might have to wait until next summer, though. Or maybe we could have one over winter break.) 

Haley and Marilyn chatted for only a very short time. Then they let Sealie have a turn talking to Toby Marshall. She did most of the talking though, and Toby said a few words at a time. _Typical boy._

On the other end of the conversation, Marilyn was having a pretty nice time with the Marshalls. eight-year-old Nina was finishing up her spelling worksheet for school. A rule at the Marshall house is that if the kids have homework on the weekend, they are supposed to finish it Friday night. (At the Pike house, this would never work.) Every now and then, Nina would ask for help using her words in sentences. Eleanor and Toby had been talking back and forth between the walkie-talkies "all day," according to Nina and about an hour ago, they had the idea to use them to talk to the Tiners. 

"Toby and Sealie, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-E-N-G," sang Eleanor. 

"Kissing is spelled K-I-S-S-_I_-N-G," Nina abruptly corrected her. Then she turned to Marilyn and said, "I have to use five of my spelling words all in the same paragraph and it's sooooo hard. Can you help me?" 

"Hmm, let's see," Marilyn studied the words. "These words don't go together very well, do they?" 

"No, they don't," Nina agreed. She blew her bangs out of her face, looking frustrated. 

"Hey, that's okay," Marilyn said. "We just have to be creative." 

At that moment, Toby shoved the walkie-talkie in Marilyn's hand. "All done." He said it as though he had just finished eating. It was a phrase he used often and sometimes at the most inappropriate times. Someone would be talking to him and he'd stop them mid-sentence with: "All done talking." or "All done listening." 

"Toby!" Eleanor scolded him. "You didn't ask if I wanted it. And I do!" 

"It's okay, Eleanor. You still have..." Marilyn looked at the clock, "..thirty more minutes to talk. Then all of you need to get ready for bed." 

"First I have to finish this," Nina whined. "It's taking forever." 

"It won't take much longer," Marilyn assured her. And it didn't. Just as Eleanor's thirty minutes were up, Nina had finally thought of a paragraph using the words "cactus," "together," "astronaut," "jungle," and "gigantic." It went like this: "The gigantic cactus was too big to jump over. The astronaut and the alien split up and went around it. Maybe if they had stayed together, they wouldn't be lost in the jungle." 

After all of the kids had gone to bed, Marilyn and Haley made use of the walkie-talkies themselves. They wrote the first draft of their notebook entry while it was fresh in their minds. (I was impressed by that!) 

What was I doing while Marilyn and Haley were at their jobs? I was helping out at Claire's birthday slumber party. However, I felt a little bad because my mind kept wandering to other things. I was unable to give the party my full attention. 

It was later on that night when the gifts had been opened and the candles had been blown out, that I did some serious thinking alone in my room. The kind of thinking where you have to sit down and write it all out. 

I could hear Claire, Margo, and their friends down the hall giggling up a storm at something. The Pike house was dominated by the girls tonight. The triplets were all spending the night with Buddy Barrett. In turn, his little sister, Suzi was one of Claire's party guests. 

Poor Nicky was stuck with the girls tonight. He was grounded for... something. So my sisters plus Melody Korman, Laurel and Patsy Kuhn, Myriah Perkins, Suzi Barrett, and three other girls in Claire's class were all tormenting and hounding the poor guy until Dad finally told them to stop. 

I remember what it was like to just be friends with the girls in your class at school. I'm finally starting to branch out. For instance, Haley and I are the only two freshmen in the BSC while everyone else is in the eighth grade. And Charlotte could actually be in the seventh grade if she hadn't skipped a grade, although I cannot see her in the same grade as Margo. 

Margo and her friends aren't mature enough to babysit if you ask me. I know that the original BSC started when they were seventh graders, and Mal and Jessi were only in the sixth grade when they became junior members! But our club is different... older. I wanted it to stay that way. So far, Margo had not said a thing about wanting to join. If she ever really wanted to be a junior member... well, we would have to talk about it. 

I was leaning toward the prospect of adding another older member... an eighth grader or a ninth grader, most likely... to the club. I realized that it could not be left up to me to decide. Everyone else would have a say in it. 

We were lucky that we had not had a conflict in scheduling thus far. Friday's meeting had gone smoothly, probably because fewer calls had come in. But we came so close on Wednesday to having a big problem when we thought that no one was free to sit for the Marshalls. 

I collected all my thoughts and wrote down the questions I needed answered: 

Should we have a junior members yet? (probably not.)   
Should we take on associate members? (probably so.)   
Should we ask someone our age to be a full-time member?  
If so, is there another office they could take? And who could it be? (???) 


	6. Melting Over A Boy Named Zach

(a/n: A pair of *asterisks* means that this is my original character, not Ann M. Martin's) 

It was Saturday morning, and the slumber party guests had just abandoned their sleeping bags to join the Pike family for a late breakfast. They all looked pretty tired compared to the raving lunatics they had been the night before. Some of them were still wearing the makeup they had experimented with last night. 

"Is that my silver eyeshadow, Claire Pike?" Mallory said, making that face like she's in extreme pain and trying to sound like a parent. Claire tried to wipe it off, but it was too late. "I hope you didn't use it all. If you did, you're buying-- " 

"Mal," was all Mom had to say for Mallory to pipe down. Rolling her eyes, Mal put a big bite of pancakes in her mouth and didn't say anything else about the makeup, most of which was hers. Mal has an obsession with makeup. I honestly don't care much about it. Mom was the one who told me I should wear powder to even out my complexion and blush to brighten my face. I usually wear the powder and blush, but nothing more. Jessi says that if I make the drill team prep class, I will have to wear lots of makeup for performances. Blue eyeshadow, ruby-red lipstick... yuck! 

Today I was dressed sort of nice. I was wearing chunky heeled boots, my khaki pants and a pale pink shirt buttoned halfway up with a matching camisole underneath. I had even added clear mascara and lip gloss to my usual makeup. I usually don't dress up for babysitting jobs, but this morning I received a call from Mrs. Benedict (Claud's aunt) saying that plans had changed a little. 

Mrs. Benedict needed me to babysit her kids at Claudia's house (where the baby shower would also be held) instead of at the Benedict's house. This was good for me because it meant not having to get Mal to drive me across town. I could just walk to Claud's house. 

She also asked if I would not only sit for Lynn, Russ, and Kira, but also for the kids that some other relatives were bringing. It came out to a total of seven kids. Now, I should stop and explain that no person can watch over that many kids at once. My family has eight kids, and back when we were all young enough to need a babysitter, my mom always requested that the BSC send two sitters. 

I was about to ask her if I should call another babysitter. Would Haley or Becca do it? They were free. I didn't get a chance to ask though, because Mrs. Benedict had it covered. 

"I won't ask you to watch them all yourself. (That was a relief because I couldn't have done that!) Janine's husband's brother, *Zach*, agreed to help. And all of the adults will be there if you need anything. Is that okay with you? Do you remember Zach? He was one of the ushers at the wedding a couple of years ago. He's about your age." 

I thought that maybe I remembered Zach. I told her it was fine with me, but I felt a little worried about all of the changes that had come to play. I was told that the rest of the kids were older than the Benedict kids, and three out of the four of them were boys. I hoped Zach would be responsible so that the kids wouldn't go wild, especially with so many adults around. 

At 12:15, I walked over to Claudia's house. I managed to arrive ten minutes early, which was a good thing. I beat Mrs. Benedict there. Janine was the one who answered the door. 

"Hi!" I exclaimed. 

"Vanessa! It's good to see you. Mother mentioned you would be sitting today." Janine gave me a side-hug and let me in. Claudia had mentioned that Janine was in her eighth month of pregnancy, but nothing could have prepared me for how much she had changed. Besides being pregnant , there were many other obvious changes that made me wonder how this could possibly be the same person. Janine had stopped wearing her glasses in favor of contacts. And gone were the days of her boring button down shirts, kilts, and knee socks. True, she was stuck in maternity clothes, but she still looked nice. I remember she had the same boring haircut for years, but now she had let it get a little longer with soft layers starting at her chin and ending right past her shoulders. 

"Vanessa, hey, Peaches will be here with the rest of the kids soon. She's running late," Claudia appeared at the top of the stairs and greeted me as she descended. 

"As always," added Janine as Claudia joined her. Standing side by side, they looked more like sisters than ever. They were both wearing shades of blue and the same pleasant expression. Funny, Claudia and Janine didn't even look related a few years ago. Plenty had changed, that was for sure. 

"But Zachary is already here," Janine went on. "And the other kids are upstairs with him playing a board game. Unlike Peaches, Aunt Keiko likes to be early. Perhaps sometimes a little too early. Anyhow, I think he's got those four under control. Meanwhile, would you mind helping Claudia and I finish preparing?" 

"Sure." I said eagerly following them to the kitchen, although I was curious about meeting Zach. 

"Oh, no you don't, Janine," Claudia suddenly sounding more like the older sister. "Peaches and I told you that you weren't to do anything but enjoying yourself and your party today. Vanessa will help me until Peaches arrives. Meanwhile, I want you to sit down." With that, Claudia gave Janine's belly a little pat and pulled out a chair for her. For a second, I pictured Claudia and Janine as me and Mallory in several years. It would be so exciting to be an aunt myself someday. I wondered if I'd be making a fuss over my older sister like Claud was doing. 

"Claudia, I may be pregnant, but I assure you I'm not an invalid." Janine said, but even so she was smiling and sat down as she had been told to do. "There, satisfied?" 

"Very," Claudia answered. Then she put me to work mixing Hawaiian punch and pineapple juice together and pouring it in a bowl. She herself went off to entertain Aunt Keiko (whom I think was Mr. Kishi's sister) and her uncle. Later, Mrs. Kishi arrived with a cake just about the time that I finished making the punch. Finally, Mrs. Benedict (Peaches) arrived with her kids. I still hadn't met Zach or the other kids. 

"Vanessa, sorry I'm late. Janine, how are you?" Janine, still the center of attention stood up and received a warm hug from her aunt and Lynn hugged Janine's belly becasue it was as high as the little girl could reach. Mrs. Benedict handed a sleepy-looking Kira over to Claudia and apologized to Mrs. Kishi for being late. 

"Whew! Getting three kids ready by yourself is very tricky. I'll certainly be glad when Russ comes home from his business trip," She then addressed me again while the kids chattered to Janine and Claudia, who obviously adored them. "Lynn had a rowdy morning, so she may talk and talk and talk the entire time. Russ is usually pretty quiet around people he's just met, but his cousins will entertain him for the most part. He'll probably be ready for his nap in about an hour. It's already time for Kira's nap, as you can tell. There's now a crib in Janine's old room that she uses when she visits." 

I introduced myself to the Benedict kids and then Claudia took us upstairs. The rest of Janine's guests were beginning to arrive so it was time to get the little ones out of the way. 

"I'll go ahead and put Kira down for her nap since she's just about to doze off," Claud suggested. "Plus I think if the other kids see her, they'll make a fuss over her and she'll get cranky. The other kids are all in my room. Listen, Vanessa, I told Peaches I'd handle Kira today. I can just take the baby monitor downstairs and check on her from time to time. You and Zach are going to have your hands full with the other kids, believe me." 

"With these kids? Nahhh!" I smiled down at Lynn and Russ, who were being perfect angels. 

"No, not them," Claudia just laughed lightly and disappeared into the other room with Kira, leaving me wondering what kind of trouble the rest of her cousins would be. 

"SORRY!" A loud voice carried from Claudia's room. The four kids and an older boy were laughing hysterically as I let myself and the little ones into the room. 

"I got you back! I got you back!" The owner of the loud voice, a boy who appeared to be about eight or nine years old, chanted. The little girl sitting next to him scowled and crossed her arms. 

The older boy stood up when we came in and said, "Lynn, Russ, hey!" 

"Zach!" They both charged towards him, full of energy, and he tickled them both with just as much energy as only a boy can do. I stood back and for a moment, I was suddenly mesmerized by Zach Yamakawa. I sure didn't remember him being this gorgeous! He had spiky jet-black hair, almond shaped brown eyes, and an athletic build. He was Japanese, just like the Kishi family, and... WOW! For a second, I forgot about the six kids going crazy in the room, and it was just the two of us. But just for a second. 

I had to snap back into reality because the room had become utter chaos! Both Lynn and Russ were now the ones tickling poor Zach, who was laughing helplessly. The four older kids were playing the 'Sorry!' game, but an argument had started between the boy who had just 'sorried' his little sister. 

"No fair! No fair!" (She was throwing a Claire Pike tantrum over this.) 

"Cut it out, kids!" That was Zach, now pinned down by the two other boys while the little ones attacked him screaming "Tickle monster! Tickle monster!" 

_FWEET!_ I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled loudly. That stopped everything as I knew it would. (When you have seven brothers and sister, you know how to handle crazy situations.) The kids turned to look at this strange girl who had just walked in and whistled at them. Zach sat up, looking sheepish... but still cute. 

"Hi, guys," I said calmly. "My name's Vanessa Pike. I'm here to help Zach watch you guys today. I live nearby and I like kids a lot. I know lots of fun things we can do while the grown-ups have their party, okay? But we can't go crazy. Got it?" 

A few of the kids nodded, but the oldest boy who had started the fight with his sister frowned. "What fun stuff can we do in here? I don't wanna play in a girl's room all day." 

The room was much too small to hold us, anyway. Playing a board game might have been okay earlier, but now we would make too much noise. As it was, I was certain that everyone downstairs had heard the shouting and my screeching whistle. 

"What's your name?" I asked him. 

"*Darren.*" 

"How old are you, eleven?" I had guessed too high, but on purpose. I knew that would please him. Sure enough, his little sister and brothers giggled and he smiled. 

"No, I'm nine and a half." 

"Well, Darren, I'd like it very much if you would help us keep the younger kids quiet while we go downstairs. It's a nice day today, so we'll all go and play in the backyard. Can you tell me everyone's names, first?" 

"Okay," he agreed shyly. "This is *Gary* and he's seven. And this is *Ken* and he's seven." 

"I'm almost eight, though, and Gary just turned seven," Ken corrected indignantly. I would have guessed that they were twins, but apparently not. They almost looked like the same child born twice. 

"I'm six and my name is *Michelle*," the little girl announced automatically. The older cousins reminded me very much of my family on a smaller scale, the similarities being that all of the kids were close in age and very rowdy as well. 

Now that we all knew each other, it was time to get the kids downstairs and outside before they started getting wild again. Zach and I were able to usher the kids out the door quickly. He still hadn't said a word to me, although I had seen him watching me ever since I had blown the whistle. Was he impressed with the way I took charge? Or maybe just a teensy bit annoyed? 

The shower guests hardly noticed us. They were caught up in admiring the new rocking chair that Mrs. Kishi had just given to Janine. Claudia, however, caught my eye and gave me a nod of approval. I gestured that we were out the door and winked at her as I followed Zach and the kids. She gave me the thumbs-up. On the way out, I grabbed the backpack that I had brought with me. 

I was prepared for something like this, believe it or not. I'd had a hunch that the kids would need to be outside which is why instead of bring my Kid-Kit, I had filled my backpack with various balls, a frisbee, and six tubes of bubbles that had been leftover from Claire's party favors. 

Instant entertainment. I presented the toys and the kids were happily playing in the backyard before we knew it. The three older boys started tossing around the frisbee, and Michelle and Lynn started blowing bubbles for Russ to pop. 

Zach grabbed two chairs off the back porch and set them side by side under a tree in the yard. "So, I guess we haven't really met yet, Vanessa Pike. But I think I've seen you around school," he said conversationally. 

"You... you go to Stoneybrook High? I mean, I didn't even know you lived around here." 

"Well, I didn't until this summer. My family just moved here from Ashfield, New York," he explained. "I don't really know too many people, though." 

"Wow," I said. "Do you miss your old town?" 

"I miss my friends," Zach admitted. "I miss my older brother, Will. Even though our family had to move, he got to stay behind. Since this is his senior year, he gets to live with his best friend for a year and go to our old school." (He sounded envious of his brother, and my heart went out to him.) 

"I guess that's not easy for you." 

"It's not so bad." Zach flashed me his stunning grin. "I'm liking Stoneybrook better every day." 

I only smiled back, but inside I was absolutely melting. 

"Me too." 


	7. The Boy Baby-sitter

"Step, step, step, KICK! Step, step, step, KICK! Step, step..." 

I actually had to say this as I did exercise kicks down the Ramsey's driveway so that I would be sure to take exactly three steps between each kick. I was concentrating hard, and Jessi had told me only to kick waist-high until I got the technique down cold. Right now that was fine because I didn't think I could kick much higher as it was. 

"Remember to go up on your toes on the first two steps, but then keep your heel planted on the ground as you kick. Try not to hunch over when you kick. Keep your back straight!" Jessi shouted instructions to me while I tried to do everything she said and still keep counting and remember how many times to step. It was definately harder than it looked when Jessi did it. And I hadn't even gotten to doing jump kicks yet! 

Becca was sitting in a folding chair, doing her history homework. She looked up at me and decided to cheer me on. "Way to go, Vanessa! You're starting to look like a Brookette!" 

I finally finished kicking down the driveway. I bent over to catch my breath, clearly out of shape. It was Monday afternoon and I had come home today with Jessi and Becca. Jessi and I had made plans to work on preparing me for the JV team tryouts. They were still five weeks away, but I hadn't done much stretching or dancing in awhile. And I had never tried doing high kicks. But Jessi assured me it wasn't too difficult to learn. And that my kicks would be wonderful if I was flexible and had good technique. We were going to work on it as often as we could. 

"It's true; you're coming along," Jessi said, "Take a break. We've been at it for awhile." 

I gratefully obeyed, taking a seat on the pavement at Becca's feet and gulping down the water that I had brought with me. "So, how was your job sitting for the Prezziosos?" 

"Well, you know that Jenny, Andrea, and Kaylee do modelling right?" Becca asked. I nodded. "Well, get this. The girls are going to be in this catalogue that sells frilly clothes just like the stuff they all wear?" 

I laughed. "Yeah, what about it?" 

"Andrea and Kaylee are thrilled about it. But Jenny thinks the clothes are babyish. I mean, she is nine years old. She's going to wear a slightly older version of the dress that Andrea and Kaylee will model; they'll all match. It's weird because normally Jenny would love getting dressed up and modelling in a catalogue. But she said she'd rather be wearing cool clothes, like faded jeans and boots that zip up. The kind of clothes her friends wear." 

"Oh," I said. "Did you mention that in the notebook?" 

"Yes, Madame President," Becca teased. 

"Just making sure." I stretched my legs straight out in front of me and leaned over to grab my feet. Pretty soon Jessi was behind me, gently pressing down on my back. Slowly, I loosened up a little and my stomach touched my legs. I realized I was practically folding myself in half! 

"You're already pretty flexible," Jessi told me. "You'll be even more flexible in a few weeks. But I think I'd better warn you that you'll be sore tomorrow from all this." 

"So then I'd better lay off working out tomorrow?" I pondered. 

"Oh, no!" From the expression on Jessi's face, you would think I had just asked her if I should shave my head. "You have to be sore first and work through the pain in order to become more flexible. You'll just have to push yourself a little more tomorrow because it won't come as easily." 

"Oh. Okay," I sighed a little, thinking that it hadn't been easy to begin with. "Well then, same time same place tomorrow?" I was in the process of grabbing my bag full of my school books and school clothes. It was Monday and nearly 5:30. Becca and I were headed off to another meeting of the BSC. 

Probably noticing that my face was flushed and I was sweating like a pig, Jessi offered to drive us over to the meeting, even though we could have walked. We gratefully accepted her offer and rode over to Haley's house with the air conditioner cranked up and blowing right in my face. 

On the way over, Becca commented, "I just don't get it. Why do they make them try out just to be in the prep class?" 

"I see you've been paying attention," Jessi noted sarcastically. "The members of the prep class are also considered the junior varsity drill team. That means that they perform at some of the JV games... not all of them, but a lot of them. And, in addition to that, they perform with the varsity team at Homecoming. Plus, they go to competition to compete on the JV level. AND on top of all that, they do a lot in the spring show." 

"Vanessa, you should tryout for captain of the JV team!" Becca said. 

"HA! No way!" I retorted. 

"She couldn't be considered for it," Jessi informed her, turning onto Haley's street. 

"Why not?" 

"It has to be a sophomore or a junior." 

By this time, Becca looked pretty bewildered and probably had more questions that she wasn't going to ask just then because if she did, Jessi would continue to go on about drill team until she was blue in the face. I pretty much understood the rules by now. I knew that the Varsity Brookettes was composed of the elite sophomore, junior, and senior dancers. And I knew that all a puny little freshman like me could be was a junior varsity line member. But there was no shame in that. 

I still looked pretty bad when Jessi dropped Becca and I off at Haley's house. I caught a glimpse of myself in the hallway mirror. My hair was all over the place and I looked especially awful next to Becca who was still wearing her school clothes with her hair fixed in an assortment of neat looking braids. 

Oh, well. No one cared how I looked. I was just going upstairs to be with the other members of the BSC for an hour, and then I could go home and take a long shower. 

Or... so I thought. 

When Becca and I went upstairs, the other members of the BSC had already beaten us there. Marilyn and Carolyn were sitting on Haley's bed, and Carolyn was helping her twin with her science homework. Charlotte was filing her nails and sitting on the floor. Haley was there, too, sitting on the futon next to Zach Yama- 

_Zach Yamakawa?!_

My stomach nearly dropped to my knees upon seeing him there, and I'm sure it didn't look very attractive when my mouth did the same thing. Not to mention, I didn't look very attractive to begin with. What on earth was Zach doing at our meeting? And why, oh why didn't anyone warn me? 

Luckily, Becca spoke up because I certainly couldn't, even though Zach's eyes went straight to me when we walked in. I thought surely I had forgotten how to talk, and I know that I probably looked like I had forgotten how to brush my hair, too. 

"Hi," she said slowly. "I don't think I know you. I'm Becca Ramsey and this is Vanessa Pike." From the look on her face, I knew that if she had wanted to forget about being tactful, she would have added, _And why are you at our meeting?_

"I know Vanessa," he grinned at me and I managed to smile weakly, while quickly re-doing my ponytail into something a little less horrible-looking. "My name is Zach. Zach Yamakawa. I don't know if Vanessa told you all, but I babysat with her this weekend." 

"Oh, _you're_ Zach!" Becca gushed. "Yes, Vanessa wrote all about you in the--" She stopped herself, but it was a little late for that. "I mean, she mentioned you in the club notebook." 

Oh wonderful, Becca, I thought. Go on and nearly tell the guy that I went on and on about how cute he was in the club notebook. Just go right ahead and embarrass me to death. 

The other club members looked ready to laugh. At least I knew now that they really had been reading the club notebook, if that was any consolation. Zach seemed oblivious to all of this; he just nodded his head and then looked completely dumb-founded when Carolyn couldn't hold in her laughter and longer and let loose. Beside her, Marilyn stuck an elbow in her sister's side to shush her. 

"What brings you here?" Becca finally asked. 

"Well, Saturday Vanessa told me she had just started this baby-sitting club," Zach began. " I've done a lot of baby-sitting. In Ashfield, I've had plenty of experience." 

_"Really?"_asked Charlotte, as if it were the most interesting thing anyone in the history of the world had ever said. I looked at the rest of the club and they all looked equally impressed. 

And I thought the idea of a club sounded neat," Zach went on. "So today at school, I found out that Haley is a member and I asked her about it..." 

All eyes turned to Haley, who then explained. "Zach and I are in the same art class at school. I told him how the club worked at that we were looking for new members and invited him to come to the meeting." 

She said it as if it were no big deal. I, on the other hand, was about to go through the roof. I had been _thinking_ about looking for new members, but I had not mentioned my idea to anybody! Why did Haley suddenly decide we were looking for new members without asking us? Furthermore, why did she invite him to the meeting? I know its her house, but its not just her club. 

Not that I had anything against Zach (although I was still in shock over seeing him.) I had been coming up with an elaborate plan of how to go about finding just the right person (or people) to join the club. I decided that we could hold interviews on a non-meeting day, and then allow a prospective new member to go on a few trial jobs. Then the rest of the club would vote on it and we'd either let the person in or we wouldn't. 

"I know you guys probably want to make sure I'm really a good sitter before you let me in the club," Zach went on, letting me and everyone else know that Haley hadn't already made him a member of the BSC. "Just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it." 

All eyes turned to me. Why? Oh yeah, because I was the president. Well, I didn't really know _what_ to tell him. I guess I could just tell him the truth. 

"Well, to be honest," I began slowly, trying to choose my words carefully, "Since we didn't know you were coming today, I don't know what we should do. You seem like a good sitter; you were great with Claudia's cousins the other day. I guess... you could come to a few more meetings and see how we do things. And we could set you up to go on a trial job. Another club member could go along with you to see how you handle things. Does that sound okay?" 

Everyone nodded. "That sounds fine to me," Zach said. "Um... I feel like I've caught you all off- guard by coming here. I'm sorry about that. Only two of you know me. But I've seen a lot of you around school. (He glanced at Marilyn.) Aren't you in the band?" 

She answered that she was and then the introductions began. I grew quiet again. When I had a moment, I glanced over at Haley. She was looking at me warily, probably aware that I wasn't too happy with her. I decided to hang around and talk to her about this little surprise after the meeting. 

Eventually the phone rang. Becca reached for the phone saying, "Now you can see how we operate, Zach." She picked it up. "Hello, Baby-sitters Club... Mrs. Tiner! Hello!" 

I forgot about Zach being there for a moment, realizing that Sadie and Sealie's mother had called us back! That meant that we had found ourselves a regular client. I wondered if this could be Zach's trial job, but then an awful thought hit me. What would Mrs. Tiner think of one of us bringing a boy along on our sitting job? She didn't know us too well yet; she might not approve of that very much. 

Becca hung up, relayed the information to Charlotte, and Charlotte checked the record book. All the while, Zach was watching with growing interest. "Looks like it'll be me sitting on Tuesday afternoon. I'm the only one free. Are you guys really _that_ busy?" 

We all nodded and then Carolyn said," Should Zach go with Charlotte? This could be his trial job." Again, she was looking at me to answer this question, and I had no idea. 

"I can't," Zach butted in, before I could answer. "I have football practice. I'm on the JV team." 

"Well, maybe you'll be free for another job," Charlotte said, reaching for the phone to call Mrs. Tiner back. "We get lots of calls during the meeting." 

She was right. We did get several calls that meeting, and we managed to line up sitters for all of them. But just barely. Several times there would only be one or two of us free to take the job. We even managed to line up a trial job for Zach. We scheduled him to sit for Jamie and Lucy Newton on Tuesday evening, along with Haley. I knew Mrs. Newton wouldn't mind Zach coming along on a trial basis, and she wouldn't even care that he was a boy. She was used to having Logan Bruno sit for her kids when the old club was in business. 

"These are great kids," Haley told him. "It'll be a piece of cake sitting for them." 

"Great," Zach smiled, looking Haley straight in the eye. She obviously blushed just a little. I could tell because I know that her ears turn pink when she blushes, but her cheeks don't give her away. I didn't miss the fact that she un-tucked her hair from behind her ears and covered them up. 

Watching them, I wondered if Zach had a crush on Haley, and I wondered if she liked him, too. 

"I think you guys run your club very smoothly and professionally," Zach announced to all of us. 

"Well, we learned it all after our own babysitters," Marilyn told him. "They taught us how to operate. Kristy Thomas, the former president, had all these great ideas for us to use. Kid-kits, club officers, the club notebook..." 

"What exactly is the club notebook?" Zach asked. 

"It's like a group diary of our babysitting experiences," Carolyn told him. "We use it to record important information about our clients and our jobs. Its right here." 

And then she handed it to him, and that's when I remembered what I had written. Thinking fast, I glanced at the clock. "Would you look at that? 6:30 already. Meeting's over. Zach, I think we should wait until you're an official member until we let you read that." With that, I snatched the notebook back and set it aside. Looking bewildered, Zach nodded and stood up. The rest of the club members quickly got up and started to leave, knowing full well that I was ready for that meeting to end-- fast! 

I waited for everyone else to leave, in order to speak with Haley alone. When the last club member last the room, I opened my mouth to speak. But Haley beat me to it. 

"What was _that_ all about?" She exclaimed. 

"I should be asking you the same question. Why would you bring him to the meeting without telling any of us? You practically made him a member behind all of our backs!" 

"I didn't think you'd mind," Haley said hotly. "You seemed pretty smitten with him in the club notebook." 

I lunged after the notebook. "That's another thing! If he's going to see that, I'm ripping out my entry!" She quickly blocked me, grabbing the notebook herself. 

"Oh, no you don't! This is the club's notebook, not just yours!" 

"But what I wrote was private!" 

"Well, maybe you should have written more about babysitting and less about your crush." 

I turned abruptly to leave and that's what I saw Matt standing in the doorway, looking puzzled. Had he heard us? Oh, no, of course not. I quickly remembered that he was deaf. But he had stopped by Haley's room, and realized by our body language that we were fighting. 

Haley quickly signed something to Matt. I didn't know what she was telling him because she didn't bother to speak while she signed. But he nodded, signed something back, and left. 

Seeing Matt had calmed us both down. But just a little bit. After he left, she and I both looked at each other, neither of us knowing what to say. Finally I spoke up. 

"I just wished you would have asked the rest of us before you invited him over." 

"I assumed that we needed a new member since we've been close to not having a sitter for our client several times," Haley said. "I didn't think anyone would mind." 

I paused and looked at my feet. "I guess we should have talked about that. Sorry." 

"Me too," Haley said. We hugged each other awkwardly, and then I left. 

But we both knew that the issue had not completely been resolved. And I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that we would soon be fighting over the same guy.   
  


*Author's Note*: This has been the longest chapter yet! I hope you all liked it; please let me know what you thought by giving me a review! Also, who would be interested in a second story from another babysitters' point of view when this story is done? Would you like if I wrote a story about Haley? Or would you rather read a story from another girl's perspective? Let me know! 


	8. Problems For The BSC

Author's Note: This was a long chapter, too! I would really appreciate it if everyone who reads my story would give me a review! Enjoy!   
  


"Vanessa?" 

Later that night, I couldn't get Zach and Haley out of my mind. Had there been a spark of interest between the two of them? Had Haley been interested Zach ever since the first day of school when she met him in art class? But if that were the case, I would have already known by now. Haley could never go an entire week without telling me about a crush. 

Another thing bothered me. Why didn't Haley call me after she read my notebook entry and mention that she knew Zach, too? Why didn't she... why... this was too much to handle. I was jealous and confused and upset all at the same time. 

"Vanessa?" 

I looked up. Mallory was sitting up her bed, looking at me. It was getting late and I was still sitting at my desk, completely dressed and doodling in my poetry notebook. I had just finished adding a couple of lines to the poem of my life. Most girls keep regular journals, but mine is just one big, loo-oong poem. The poem of my life. A journal entry for me equals a few stanzas. The stanza I had written tonight went like this:

Blonde-haired, blue eyed, pretty faces--  
Without glasses, pimples, bad haircuts, braces--  
Why must you be the portrait of perfection?  
How can someone like me compete for his affection?  


"Vanessa, are you okay?" Mallory asked, looking puzzled. "It's nearly 11:00 and you're still dressed. Why don't you go get ready for bed?" 

"Okay," I mumbled, shutting my notebook and shoving it in my backpack. 

"Are you okay?" Mallory asked again. 

"Yeah," I said weakly. A tear slipped down my cheek. "N-no..." 

"Come over here," Mallory scooted over in her bed and I slid in next to her, resting my head on her shoulder. "What happened?" 

"Well, I (sniff)... um... (hic)... Haley..." A few sobs and hiccups later, the whole story was out. I told Mallory all about my having a silly crush on this guy that I barely knew, writing about it in the club notebook, and then about Haley inviting him to join the club. 

"Listen," Mal said, playing with my ponytail. "There's something I never told you, but I think you ought to know. Running a club with your friends isn't always going to fun and easy. Especially when people aren't getting along. And then you add a boy to that equation, and you've got even more trouble." 

"Yeah," I said, wiping my nose. "I was so embarrassed today. And if Zach ever finds out what I wrote about him, I'll die of embarrassment." 

"Well... that's what you get for being such an eloquent writer," Mal said, but she wasn't being mean. She was being funny, and she managed to make me laugh. 

"When I die of embarrassment, they can write on my tombstone that I was 'eloquently idiotic.'" 

"It won't be _that_ bad," Mal offered. "What if he feels the same way?" 

"Well, then Haley would hate me," I sighed. "I know she would because I just know she likes him, too." 

"Did she say so?" 

"No...but she's my best friend. I know she does." 

"Vanessa," Mallory looked at me long and hard. "You remind me just a little too much of myself right now. And I mean that in a good way. The first year of high school is confusing, but you'll get through all of it. This too will pass. Just be patient."   
  


* * * * * * *

  


After Zach's trial sitting job with the Newtons, it was pretty obvious to all of us that he needed to join. According to Haley and Mrs. Newton, who later called and requested Zach again, 9-year-old Jamie Newton idolized his new baby-sitter and even 6-year-old Lucy had been pretty pleased. 

In her notebook entry about the job, Haley wrote: 

_Is there anything this guy can't do? Zach kept up with the kids, matching them in both energy and creativity. Both of the kids had a blast with him. I think what really makes Zach a great sitter is how he can be ready with a new game or idea at a moment's notice, but he's mature enough to maintain control so the kids don't go crazy. He's even been trained with the Red Cross, and he looked after Kira, his baby cousin, when she was just two months old. Who wouldn't want Zach in the club?_

That last sentence didn't sit well with me. I could tell that Haley was directing that question straight at ME. And you know what? Even though I knew Zach deserved to join, I wasn't completely comfortable with the idea of having him at every meeting. Meetings wouldn't be the same with a guy there. Especially a guy that Haley and I were both crushing on. I was trying to take Mallory's advice. I was trying to be patient with Haley and with the uncomfortable situation I was now in, but it just wasn't working. 

At Wednesday's meeting, we voted about whether or not to let Zach in the club. The ballots were done in secret, and we all voted for having Zach in the club. In all honesty, I would have rather voted against letting him join, but that would have _really_ backfired on me. All the other girls would have wanted to know who voted against letting Zach joined. Then they would have all blabbed about how they had voted, and I would have been caught and interrogated. Some democracy. 

Finally, Friday came around, and it was time for Zach to officially become the newest member of the Baby-sitters Club. We were making it a combined party and meeting. After the meeting, we were going to have dinner and cake to celebrate our newest member. _Haley_ had organized the entire thing herself without asking any of us first. As a matter of fact, she had already placed the order for the cake before we officially voted Zach in on Wednesday. That's how certain she was that he would be voted into the club. 

Not only that, but she had also called the former BSC members that still lived in Stoneybrook to invite them to the party. Kristy, Claudia, Abby, Mary Anne, Jessi, and Mallory were all coming. Logan Bruno was in town for the weekend, and she invited _him_, too! She barely knows Logan! 

Haley has really gone out of her way to plan all this. And Haley does not go out of her way to do things like this for just anybody. She definitely had it bad for him. 

"You don't know that for sure," Mal argued when I explained my latest theory about Haley. 

"Oh, yes I do," I put in. "I know her, and I know when she's up to something. 

Mallory didn't have an argument for that so just rolled her eyes and said, "I think you're getting all worked up for nothing, Vanessa." She tied a ribbon in her curly red hair and changed the subject, "You look cute. Why are you all dressed up?" 

"Duh," I said in the irritable voice that I had been using all week. "Zach's gonna be there. The last time he saw me at a meeting, I was sweating like a pig. The least I can do is look nice for him." 

"You don't have to look nice for any guy," Mallory said in her know-it-all voice. "You know, this is the biggest reason that Logan Bruno was an associate member of the BSC instead of a regular member. It was much to uncomfortable to have a guy at every meeting." 

"I agree," I said. "But what can I do?" 

"Maybe you won't have to do anything," Mallory said, thoughtfully, "Maybe everyone else will be uncomfortable, too. Then the problem would take care of itself." 

"But who knows how long it could take if I just wait for the problem to go away!" 

"I don't know what else to tell you," Mal was getting impatient with my whining. I knew that she was pretty excited about getting the old club and the new club together, and I was spoiling it for her. "You'll just have to deal with it yourself." 

_Some big sister she is,_ I thought. 

At 5:15, Jessi arrived with Becca to pick up Mallory and me. 

Becca's so lucky that Jessi has a car. I wish Mom and Dad would buy Mallory a car, but they can't afford to do that. Instead, Mallory has to work as a hostess at Red Lobster to save up enough money to pay for half of the car. And by that time, the triplets will be old enough to drive it, so they'll have to pay Mallory back to become part-owners of the car. It would then be a car owned by four people. And they would all be obligated to drive the rest of us around, too. Isn't that crazy? Sometimes I really regret this family being so huge. 

Becca greeted me when I sat down next to her in the back. She was holding the club scrapbook and her camera in her lap, and she looked like she was in a good mood. 

"What are you bringing that stuff for?" I asked flatly. 

"Haley said this would be a great opportunity to take the picture with the old BSC for the cover of the scrapbook," Becca explained. "It's going to be so fun having everyone together!" 

"I guess," I said glumly. "But not everyone is together. There's still Stacey and Shannon in New York and Dawn in California." 

"Well, this is the best we can do right now," Becca frowned. "If we ever do get everyone together, then we'll take another picture. But I was just planning to have Stacey and Shannon send me a picture of them together and get a picture of Dawn and put all of that on a separate page." 

"Okay," I said softly, knowing that I was frustrating Becca. I even noticed Jessi glance at me in the rear-view mirror, looking very puzzled. Mallory didn't bother to be subtle; she turned all the way around in her seat and gave me a Look. I piped down and tried to look enthusiastic. 

When we arrived, Abby and Mary Anne were already sitting in the Braddock's living room talking to Haley. (Haley was even more dressed up than I was!) Even though Abby and Mary Anne were still living in Stoneybrook, I hadn't seen either of them since the BSC got together before school started. Seeing them and hugging them both brightened my spirits just a little. I never realized how strange it would be to have friends who had already graduated high school. They both suddenly seemed so much older than they had last year. 

"It's so good to see you!" I cried. "So tell me, what have you been doing? How's college?" 

"Well, its not so different since I'm living at home," Mary Anne confessed. Abby nodded in agreement. "But I really like it. I'm doing something I would have never dreamed I'd do in high school..." 

She left us hanging for a minute so Becca asked, "Well, what is it?" 

"I'm doing theatre!" Mary Anne finally announced, "I really wanted to be involved and this girl I knew told me that I would really like it. So I auditioned and I got in! It's awesome!" 

"Augh!" Becca squealed. "That's so cool! I want to act in college, too!" 

"Wow, Mary Anne, it sounds great," Haley added. 

"Oh, its so much fun..." Mary Anne went on about the drama program, with Becca hanging on her every word. Theatre is something we never would have thought that shy Mary Anne Spier would do. The only time she had ever been involved in a play was when Stoneybrook ISD put on "Peter Pan." Even then, Mary Anne refused to set foot on the stage. Instead, she was the backstage baby-sitter. 

While Becca interrogated Mary Anne about drama, everyone else started to arrive. By 5:29 Haley, Mary Anne, Abby, Mallory, Jessi, me, Becca, Charlotte, Kristy, and Logan were gathered in the Braddock's living room. At exactly 5:30, Claudia and Zach arrived, and they had brought Janine and her husband, (and Zach's older brother) James. That made 14.5 people, plus Marilyn and Carolyn who had not arrived yet. 

"Janine!" 

"Look at you!" 

"How long until you're due?" 

It seemed wherever she went, she was now the center of attention. Her cheeks were pink; I couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or just flushed. Janine looked even bigger than the last time I had seen her, if that was possible. James ushered her to sit down, and she playfully gave him the "I'm not an invalid" speech that she had given Claudia the other day. But she sat and James stood by her. 

I took a close look at Janine's husband. Then I looked at Zach and then back at James, comparing the two brothers' looks. They didn't resemble each other very much. 

"Hey guys," Haley had gone to her room and returned with the cordless phone and the record book. "I figured we would hold the meeting in here since we can't all fit in my room." 

Everyone agreed to that, even me. Although this was no way to really hold a meeting. It was much more of a party, but that was what it was intended to be. If _someone_ had asked me, I would have suggested not inviting everyone else until after the meeting adjourned. But that someone obviously didn't want my opinion, and consequently we made such a racket that we almost didn't hear the phone when it did ring. 

I finally picked it up myself, put a finger in my other ear, and said, "Hello, Baby-sitters Club." 

"Hello, this is Yvonne Hutchison. I wanted to call you back to get a sitter for Seth on Tuesday. The last girl you sent, Carolyn Arnold, was absolutely wonderful with him. Tell her I said thank you again for a job well done. I'll be regularly calling your organization when I need a sitter." 

"Great!" I said enthusiastically. "I'll tell Carolyn..." _If she ever shows up_, I thought."...and, Mrs. Hutchison, I will check to see who's available and call you back." 

I hung up and looked for Charlotte and the record book. She was busy talking to Abby, and the record book was still on the kitchen counter where Haley had set it down. I just shrugged and picked it up, deciding to play secretary since nobody else seemed to care about their job right now. Haley and Charlotte were both free. 

"Hey Haley? Hey Charlotte?" Neither of them heard me. "HALEY? CHARLOTTE?" Both of the girls were too caught up in the party to pay any attention. Haley was putting her Michelle Branch CD, making even more noise and making it harder for me to get their attention. 

Finally, Kristy took notice of me. "_HALEY! CHARLOTTE!_" She bellowed in her typical loud-mouthed manner. That worked. The music was turned down, and everyone quit talking. 

"I think Vanessa wants to know who will take the job with the Hutchisons," Kristy calmly explained. I gave her a small smile, realizing that she had been observing me the whole time I was on the phone. 

Charlotte offered the job to Haley, and Haley called Mrs. Hutchison back. 

"So how am I doing?" I asked Kristy, knowing that she'd be honest, even if the truth hurt. 

"Well," Kristy began. "I know you're trying, but things aren't going so smoothly, am I right?" 

"Not really," I sighed and started explaining all the problems we'd been having, starting with Haley inviting Zach to the meeting without asking any of us and then explaining how Haley had basically planned this whole party without first checking with anyone else. 

"So Haley's sort of taking over?" Kristy asked. 

"I guess so," I admitted. "She keeps doing things on her own, but we're supposed to function as a group in order to be fair to everybody. What should I do, Kristy?" 

Kristy opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, the kitchen door flew open. Carolyn was standing there, out of breath, and tears were running down her cheeks. The time on the kitchen clock read 5:56. 

"Carolyn, what's wrong?" I asked. "Where's Marilyn?" 

Carolyn didn't answer my question. Instead, she sat down at the kitchen table, covered her face with her hands, and started sobbing. 


	9. The Most Important Thing

"Carolyn?" I tried again. "What happened?" 

"Where's Marilyn?" Kristy wondered aloud. "What's the problem here?" 

Carolyn grabbed a Kleenex from the box and blew her nose. Then she regained control of herself and said, "Marilyn's not coming. And she is my problem!" Then she started sobbing again. 

The twins were having a fight? This didn't happen very often. But when it did, I knew that those two could fight with the best of them. The only strange thing was that I'd never known Carolyn to cry this much over an ordinary fight with her sister. 

"What else is wrong?" I ventured to ask. "Can you tell us the whole story?" 

Kristy had fetched a glass of water for Carolyn. Carolyn took a big drink of the water, inhaled and exhaled a few times slowly, and once she was calmed down again, she spoke. 

"Marilyn might quit the BSC." 

"What?!" That was me, Kristy, and Charlotte, who had just come back into the kitchen and took notice of the situation. 

"Why would she do that?" Kristy wanted to know. 

"Because," Carolyn began. "Well... okay, you know when we picked which officer we wanted to be at the first meeting. And Marilyn wanted to be the alternate officer because she was going to be so busy with the band. Well, there's a chance that she's going to be even more busy than she already is. She's already going to have a big conflict with the Friday meeting time as it is. The band performs at all of the Friday night games. Sometimes they even leave school early if they have to travel to a school that's really far away." 

I exchanged glances with Charlotte, and I knew that we were both groaning inside. Why hadn't we stopped to consider Marilyn's football games being a conflict with the meetings? Charlotte hadn't scheduled anything very far in advance yet, due to lack of time, and the first football game wouldn't be for another two weeks. On the other hand, Marilyn must have realized that it would be a problem for quite sometime. Why had she failed to say anything? That wasn't like her to be so irresponsible. 

"She's been kind of stressed lately," Carolyn went on, answering my question before I could ask it. "I can understand why she'd be stressed, being one of the few eighth graders in the high school band. And now she's going to take on something else, which is why she's considering quitting the BSC." 

"What's she going to do instead?" Charlotte asked. 

Carolyn rolled her eyes. "She's trying out for the high school orchestra in about a month. If she makes it, she'll be the first eighth grader to do so. And she's pretty confident that she will make it." 

"But even if that's true, she still hasn't made it yet, and she's still a part of the BSC!" I blurted out. "Why didn't she come tonight?" 

"That's why I'm mad at her," Carolyn explained. "She was staying after school today to work with some girl who was first chair violin in the orchestra last year. She wanted to stay up until it was time to come to the meeting. So I told her I would come by the school on my way to Haley's house, and we could walk together to Haley's from there. 

Well, when I went to the Band Hall to look for her, I couldn't find her anywhere. One of the guys that was hanging around there told me that Marilyn went with that girl to the Dairy Queen and told him to tell me to meet her there. So I went to the Dairy Queen. No Marilyn there. So I called Mom at home, and she said that Marilyn called to ask if she could go with that girl to the music store. And Mom told her she could go. That made me really mad that she ditched me like that. I ran from the Dairy Queen all the way to Haley's house. And that's why I was late. All because of her." 

"Oh," Charlotte said in a small voice. 

"I really don't want her to quit," I sighed. "Isn't there something we can do?" 

Carolyn shrugged. Charlotte bit her lip and stared blankly at the wall. And I had no clue. 

Kristy spoke up. "Even if Marilyn does make the orchestra, she still might not have to quit altogether. She could become an associate member and not attend meetings." 

"She could," Carolyn seemed to brighten just a little at that idea. 

"Hey, Carolyn," Becca appeared in the doorway. "I'm glad you're here. Where's Marilyn?" 

Carolyn opened her mouth to speak, clearly exasperated and probably about to snap at Becca out of frustration. So I jumped in. "It's a long story, Becca. But we don't think she's coming." 

Becca frowned, but didn't ask any questions. "Okay, well should we still do the club picture?" 

"Let's save it until the end in case she shows up," Charlotte suggested. We all agreed half- heartedly. Everyone in the kitchen looked gloomy, while the party was in full swing in the living room. 

"Maybe you should wash your face so nobody will ask you why you've been crying, Carolyn ," I suggested. I didn't want her to have to re-tell her story to everyone. That would just upset her more. 

"Okay," she agreed and headed off to the bathroom. When the phone finally rang again, and I left Becca and Charlotte to answer it while I tracked down Haley to fill her in on what had just happened. 

I found Haley sitting with Zach, talking to Claudia, Janine, and James. Haley and Zach were squished together, side by side, even though they were the only two people sitting on the loveseat. Zach had his arm around Haley's shoulder, and he was playing with her hair. 

I stared at the two of them for a moment, and my mind started working again. My crush on Zach was as strong as ever; I could tell by the awful, jealous feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. But I could tell that Haley was already winning him over. What guy wouldn't like Haley? She was charming, funny, and always the life of the party. As much as I hated to admit, Zach and Haley were a cute couple. 

"Vanessa?" Someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Charlotte. 

"Hey-hi-um, yes?" I stammered. 

Charlotte laughed a little. "O-kay... That was Mrs. Prezzioso. She needs a sitter for Andrea and Kaylee, but not Jenny on Thursday afternoon. You and I are free. Do you want it?" 

"Um, nah," I said, my eyes drifting away from Charlotte and back to Haley and Zach. (I couldn't help it!) "You can take it." 

"Thanks," Charlotte replied. "Vanessa, can I ask you something?" 

"Like what?" I forced myself to look at Charlotte. 

"I've been watching you lately, and you really seem to like Zach. I'm not just talking about what you wrote in the notebook. You looked really hurt just now when I saw you looking at him with Haley. I just want to know if you're okay." Charlotte looked at me, truly concerned. 

I decided not to cover up for myself, and just to be real with her. "Yes, I am hurt. But I think I've decided... " My eyes went back to Haley and Zach. The others had disappeared, and the two of them were now talking only to each other quietly, lost in their own world while the party carried on around them. "I think I'm giving up my crush on Zach." 

Charlotte nodded slowly, her brown eyes full of sympathy. "What made you decide that?" 

I thought for a moment. "Not only do I not have a chance with him... I also think its for the best of the club. With the possibility of us losing Marilyn, we just can't afford for anything else to happen. I'm afraid that if Haley and I get into a big fight over him, he'll want to quit the club. Or she will. And the club will fall apart. The club is more important to me right now than winning a boyfriend." 

"That's a very noble thing to do, Vanessa," Charlotte said. "I really admire that about you. You always think about everyone else before yourself. Even if that means you get hurt." 

I bit my lip, trying not to cry. "Oh, sorry Vanessa! I didn't mean to---" Charlotte looked like she might cry herself. Since we were surrounded by people, I decided it would be best to carry on this conversation somewhere else. I motioned for Charlotte to follow me, and we ended up alone in their formal dining room where we could talk in private. 

"Vanessa, I've got to tell you something," Charlotte looked very serious. "I overheard the argument that you and Haley had when Zach came to the meeting on Monday. I had stayed to ask Matt a question and that's when I heard you guys fighting." 

I was quiet. She went on. "I called Haley later and told her I didn't think she was right not to let you tear that entry out of the notebook. I told her that it was awful of her to make you face the humiliation of having Zach read everything that you wrote about him and know your most personal thoughts." 

"Wow, I'm glad you did that," I said, truly meaning it. I was beginning to wander if Charlotte was my guardian angel. "Did you get through to her?" 

"I must have," Charlotte said. "Because I checked, and your entry is gone." 

"Well, that's a relief," I sighed a little. "I had almost forgotten all about that entry. It would be especially bad for Zach to read that now that he and Haley are... practically together." 

"Practically," Charlotte said. "I suppose they'll make it official soon. I've about decided that the whole boyfriend thing is completely overrated." 

"Really?" I asked. I never expected to hear those words from boy-crazy Charlotte Johanssen. 

"I'm serious," she went on. "For instance, it was a bad idea for me to date Jake. We had such a good friendship before we went out, and now that we've broken up, our friendship is ruined. I can't even talk to him anymore. I don't know if things will ever be normal between us." 

"Gosh, sorry Char," I said. "I didn't know it was that bad." 

She just nodded, her eyes revealing a sadness that I had never noticed in her before. I gave Charlotte a much-needed hug and she gratefully hugged me back. 

"You guys?" Haley appeared in the doorway as Charlotte and I finished hugging. "Come on into the kitchen. The meeting is over. It's time to officially induct Zach into the BSC!" 

I put a smile on my face and decided it was time to enjoy myself. 

"There they are," Zach exclaimed when Haley, Charlotte, and I returned to the kitchen. He grinned that charming grin of his, and oddly enough, my heart didn't melt into a puddle. Instead I smiled back at him, knowing now that I could live with just having Zach as my friend. 

Kristy handed me a plate with two slices of pizza and a glass of Coke, and I took my food and raised my Coke above my head. 

"As President of the BSC," I said in my most official voice. "I would like to say a toast to our newest club member. Zach--- " 

"Wait, wait!" Fifteen people turned to see Marilyn Arnold burst through the door. "Uh, sorry I'm late!" She looked so embarrassed that we all laughed. Yes, even Carolyn. 

Kristy handed Marilyn a Coke, and she took it and raised it in the air, still red in the face and said, "Okay, go ahead, Vanessa." 

"As I was saying," I went on. "Zach Yamakawa, welcome to the Baby-sitters Club!" 

_CLANK!_ Everyone clanked glasses with the people around them. I clanked my glass with Abby and Becca, took a sip, and looked all of my friends that surrounded me. Everyone was happy, but the future was still looking a little uncertain for the club. 

We had gained a new member, but were faced with the possibility of losing one of our original members at the same time. I watched Marilyn explaining herself to Carolyn and Charlotte. Neither of them looked upset with her so I was sure then that she must have had a good reason to miss the meeting. Whatever had made her so late wasn't important now. 

The most important thing now was the friendships between us club members. I hoped that everyone would support Marilyn no matter what, and that we could all be happy for her if she earned a spot in the orchestra, even if that meant that she had to leave the BSC or become an associate member. I hoped that Haley and I would still remain close even if she decided to go out with Zach. I also hoped that Zach would be careful with her heart so that she wouldn't end up getting hurt like Charlotte did. 

"Picture time!" Becca shouted. She handed her camera to Janine. Haley had a camera, too, and she handed hers over to Janine's husband. 

"This picture's for our scrapbook," Becca announced to everyone. "The New Club celebrating with the Original Club." 

Becca, Charlotte, Zach, Haley, Marilyn, Carolyn and I crouched down in the front, while Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Abby, Mallory, Jessi, and Logan took their places behind us. I knew this was what Becca had been hoping for. The new and the old, captured forever on film. 

"Okay, everyone say cheese!" called Janine, as she and James held up their cameras. 

"Cheese!" said the BSC. 

_CLICK!_   
  


(The End.)   
  
_Coming soon... #2 "Carolyn and the Trouble With Twins"_


	10. A Note to the Readers

****

Author's Note:  
  


Just to make it perfectly clear, that was the end of #1 "Vanessa's Great Idea." 

Now, the second part of the series begins two weeks after the party at the end of #1 "Vanessa's Great Idea." 

This story is told from Carolyn Arnold's point of view. I call it #2 "Carolyn and the Trouble With Twins." 

To begin reading the second part of my series, go on to the next chapter. Chapter 11 = Chapter 1. Got it? 

PS> I like reviews! 

**PPS>I like reviews, HOWEVER, do not review my story if you are going to compare me with these other stories on ff.net that are also about former clients of the BSC taking over the club. I don't care if you think their stories are better or if you think mine is better. If you review me, don't compare me to ANYONE else. Please. Okay, that is all. Keep reading, please!**


	11. Different Lives

**#2- "Carolyn and the Trouble With Twins"**

Disclaimer: Ann M. Martin owns most of the characters I write about. If I create my own character, I will put astericks around his/her name when the character is first introduced.   
  


_Write about a person you know (outside of your family) who has influenced you to become who you are today._

I don't know why I was thinking about English homework on a Friday afternoon. Maybe I was looking over the prompt sheet because it had been the last thing dished out to me in school that day. These creative writing assignments do seem really interesting the first time you think about them. As you put off doing it, it becomes more of a chore. At least for me. 

Hello, my name is Carolyn Arnold. I'm thirteen years old, and in the eighth grade at Stoneybrook Middle School. Not very exciting. But besides that, I love science. I have a lab in my basement where I do experiments all the time. Right now, I'm taking integrated chemistry & physics, better known as ICP or "integrated chemics & physistry." I'm taking it on the high school level because I am really that good at science. I'm not bragging; it's just a fact. When I'm a freshman, I want to take chemistry. When I'm a sophomore, I want to take physics. During my junior and senior years, I want to start taking college science courses. Like botany or biology. All that stuff is very interesting to me. 

English isn't all that interesting to me; creative writing isn't bad, though. 

My other big interest is punk rock. Right now, I'm into a band called Five Iron Frenzy. But I've only been into them for about a week. They're replacing my former obsession with Jimmy Eat World; that band went mainstream. I am way too hardcore for anything that mainstream. Ha. 

"Hey, Carolyn," my sister peeked into my room. "Have you seen my band shoes?" 

"Didn't you put them in the garage when they got muddy?" 

"Oh, yeah!" She disappeared to find her shoes. 

Meet my sister, Marilyn Arnold. Our names rhyme because we're twins. Personally, I think that was an extreme lapse in judgement for our parents to give us cutesy twin names. (But that's Mother for you. Everything about her is cutesy.) 

When we were little, our mother dressed us exactly alike and styled our hair the same. We wore name bracelets so that people could tell us apart by those. Sometimes that didn't work, though. At school, kids called us both Marilyn-or-Carolyn because they didn't want to bother telling us apart or getting to know us. That's how we were back then, a unit. One person instead of two. Until one day when everything changed... 

KA-CHING! I had a flash of inspiration; the lightbulb went off over my head. Chuckling to myself, I knew who I would write about for this assignment. It would involve interviewing the person, but luckily, this person was someone I could access easily. She was the older sister of my friend, and a member of the original Baby-sitters Club. Her name was Mallory Pike. 

Why is Mallory influential to me? That's very simple, I thought. 

In one quick motion, I reached for my scrapbook. My scrapbook is very special to me; Mother started it when I was a baby. Marilyn has one, too. I think our scrapbooks are two of the first things that we didn't have to share. Now that I've been keeping up with my own scrapbook, it's become even more personal and interesting. 

I turned to the middle and landed on a picture of 9-year-old me at Wet 'N Wild. Then I flipped back a few pages to my eighth birthday party. (Marilyn's, too.) There was that picture that made me laugh every time I saw it. 

In the photo, Marilyn and I were leaning over the cake, blowing out sixteen candles, eight on each side. We don't look particularly happy in the picture. But the funny thing is Mallory. In the background of that picture, Mallory has her arms crossed, party blower in hand, and she looks... weird. The expression on her face is just plain weird. I don't know what she's doing there, but she really completes the mood of the picture. 

Most of the other pictures of the party showed us smiling, having a great time. But the biggest, brightest smiles came in one picture where we are sitting side by side, holding the gifts from Mallory, our baby-sitter. Mallory gave me a science book and Marilyn a pin in the shape of a piano. Those were the only non-matching gifts that we received that year. The first time that anyone every recognized our individual personalities. 

I knew that I would be writing about Mallory Pike, but not until I interviewed her myself. Until then, I would put the writing prompt aside and concentrate on other things. After all, it was Friday afternoon, the first draft of this writing assignment was due _next_ Friday, and I had nothing due on Monday. This was a weekend I could enjoy. 

I could hear Marilyn playing scales on her French horn in her room. I could picture her sitting on her bed, blowing her brains out on that thing right now. Marilyn plays really well, though. She's good enough to be a part of the high school marching band, which only a few middle school students are allowed to do. That's what she was doing tonight; getting on a bus and riding to Stamford for the first football game of the season. 

Marilyn's been so obsessed with being in the band. She wants to try out for drum major eventually so she's constantly hanging out (or tagging along) with the current drum major, a senior girl named Jessica Vaughn. Marilyn also plans to try out for the SHS orchestra. If she makes it, she'll be the first eighth grader ever to do so. And she'll be busier than ever. 

She's already so busy that she had to give something up. She's decided that she doesn't even have enough time to be a regular member of the Baby-sitters Club. (More about that later.) She used to be our club's alternate officer, but just last week, she decided to become an associate member of the club. That means that she doesn't regularly attend meetings, and we only offer jobs to her if none of us can take them. We all hope this will be a temporary arrangement, but unless we figure something out, it will probably be permanent. 

Two weeks ago, in fact, I was incredibly angry at my sister. She blew off an important meeting of the BSC in which we inducted a new member into our club. I actually tried to hunt her down, failed to do so, and ended up going to the meeting and crying in front of my friends. (Something I hate to do.) When she finally showed up, it turned out that she didn't blow off the meeting on purpose. She and Jessica were driving to the music store, and Jessica hit a parked car and did about $800 worth of damage to it. Marilyn had to stick around while Jessica waited for the owner of the car to come out of the store. So, to make a long story short, it really wasn't Marilyn's fault. 

I glanced at the clock and realized that it was almost time for me to go. I picked up my stuff and headed downstairs. Marilyn was at the bottom of the stairs wearing her dorky band pants, held up by suspenders with a white t-shirt. Her decorated jacket was lying on the couch, next to her goofy-looking feather hat. She bent over to shut her horn case, and I gave her bottom a quick pinch. She jumped. 

"Cute suspenders," I teased. 

She crossed her eyes. "Thanks. These pants are huge!" 

"No kidding. I think we could both wear them at the same time." 

She laughed. "Where are you going?" 

"I'm sitting for Sadie and Sealie Tiner at 4:00. Just for a couple of hours while Mrs. Tiner works out at the fitness center. " 

"Oh!" She looked a little envious when I said that. The Tiner girls are adorable; they're probably our favorite clients. "Tell them I said hello. And tell the BSC that I wish I could be there. Maybe I'll be able to come to Wednesday's meeting for a little while. But not Monday." 

"Okay," I agreed, thinking for a moment about how I wished I could go to Friday night's game. It made me a little sad because I really wanted to see Marilyn in the band. And to see the Pike triplets on the field in their first Varsity game. I wondered if I should discuss this with the rest of the club. 

"Oh, guess what," Marilyn interrupted my thoughts. "Mr. Barnes decided to push orchestra tryouts up to next week. We try out on Thursday afternoon." 

"No way! That's sort of bad, isn't it?" 

"I guess," Marilyn frowned a little. "I think he did this on purpose though. Because so many of us are trying out, and a lot of us are really good. So I guess he decided that he was giving us too much time to prepare. I think I'm ready though." 

"You sound good to me," I commented. She honestly did. She had been practicing the violin for many long hours every day ever since she first decided to try out. 

"Thanks," she replied. "But guess what else happened today. I found out another eighth grader is trying out." 

"What? Who?" 

Marilyn made a face. "Rosie Wilder." 

I sighed. "Not Ms. Perfect!" 

"Yeah," Marilyn rolled her eyes. "She acted like she just decided to tryout, but I think she's just been trying to keep it a secret. Now she's getting all the attention for trying out as an eighth grader, and everyone seems to be forgetting that I even exist!" 

"Well, you'll show them!" I exclaimed, even though part of me _still_ hoped Marilyn wouldn't make it so that she might come back to the BSC. However, part of me really wanted her to beat Rosie Wilder once and for all. Rosie really gets on my nerves because she always has to be better than everyone at everything she does. 

She shrugged. "I just hope I still have a chance. If I don't make it, though, I hope Rosie doesn't make it. If I do make it, I still hope she doesn't make it. _I_ want to be the first eighth grader to be in the orchestra. I don't want to have to share that with anyone." 

"Right." 

She turned to face the hallway mirror and started pinning up her hair to go under her hat. Not only do Marilyn and I have completely different interests, we also have completely different looks. Our hair is naturally a mousy light brown color, and Marilyn doesn't do much to hers. She wears it in long layers that start just past her chin and go down past her shoulders. 

"If you cut your hair, you could probably get it under your band hat easier," I commented. 

"And I suppose I should highlight it too," she added sarcastically. "With red and blonde." 

"You'd be cute like that," I teased. She stuck her tongue out at me and continued pinning up her hair. I honestly do think she should at least cut hers to be the same length as mine. Our hair is kind of thin, and Marilyn's layers make hers look even thinner. Mine has a little more body because there's less weight pulling it down. As for the highlights, I personally love mine. I just got them done not long ago; they're pretty subtle. I put in streaks of red and blonde, mostly around my face just so that I would look a little more interesting. I'm always experimenting with my looks; Marilyn is very predictable. 

Like I said, we're different. 

"You should probably head off to your sitting job if you still want to be early." She noticed me staring at her just then, and reminded me that I didn't have all day to stand around. 

"I was just about to go," I replied. With my Kid-Kit in hand, I then headed out the door and started down the street to the Tiner's house. When I reached the end of our street, I looked back and saw Marilyn and Mom pilling all of her band stuff into the car, getting ready to head back to school and from there, head for Stamford. 

Different looks. Different interests. Now even more different schedules. I didn't feel like a twin anymore; sometimes it made me a little sad. I found myself missing the days when Marilyn and I were two peas in a pod. These days were different. 


	12. Update the Good Ole' BSC?

"Hey!" I rushed in the door at 5:35, the last to arrive to the meeting. Mrs. Tiner had been a little later than she'd planned. Of course, the rest of the club members understood that I had a job, and that was a perfectly exceptable reason to be tardy. Any other reason would have been okay, too, though. As long as I had one. I don't think we run our club quite as strictly as Kristy Thomas did. At least, not yet. 

"Hi..." "How was your job?..." "Hey, Carolyn..." 

"Hey," I replied. "The girls and I had a good time. Here's the notebook. You can read all about it." I passed around the club notebook, which is sort of like a diary. A group diary. We all write about our sitting jobs in it so that we can keep track of what's going on with our clients. 

After about five more minutes of chatting, Vanessa started to look confused. "Why isn't the phone ringing? There's usually always someone who calls right at 5:30. Especially on a Friday." 

Haley suddenly jumped up and grabbed the phone. It made a buzzing noise when she picked it up and she groaned. Then she slammed the phone back down. "Matt!" 

Zach quickly restrained her, grabbing her and making her sit. "Calm down, babe." 

"He can't hear you, remember?" Charlotte teased. "Is he online again?" 

"I _told_ him he couldn't tie up my phone line right now," she complained. "It's supposed to be a rule that I always get the phone right now for club meetings. Ever since we got AOL, all Matt wants to do is talk to everybody and their dog on Instant Messager." 

"Well, go remind him," Vanessa said. "Nicely." She added. 

Haley got up to do just that, with fire in her eyes. It had to be done, of course. The Baby-sitters Club cannot function without a free phone line. 

What is the Baby-sitters Club? I said I would explain it later. The BSC consists of me and five other terrific people, six counting Marilyn. We began the club about a month ago. Vanessa had an idea for something that we could all do to make it easier for our neighbors to get sitters. The parents simply have to call one phone number to reach all of us at once. We meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 5:30 to 6:30 to receive our calls and arrange sitting jobs. 

Sounds like a great idea, huh? Well, unfortunately we cannot take credit for it. At all. A girl named Kristy Thomas thought up the idea for the BSC about six years ago. In fact, the original BSC babysat for all but one of the members of the new BSC. We always wanted to be like them, and now we are! 

Like the original BSC, we have club officers. The officers are responsible for certain duties at every meeting. Each of us holds a particular position, and I think we are all well-suited for our jobs. I cannot see us ever trading jobs. Kristy Thomas told us that the original BSC tried to switch jobs, only to realize that it was completely unneccessary and absurd. I imagine the same would apply to us. 

Vanessa Pike is our club president; I think she truly deserves that title. Vanessa has always had a talent for leadership. She comes from a family of eight kids! So she knows how to deal with people, especially children. Vanessa never seems to have any time to herself. If that were me, I would go crazy. But Vanessa keeps her cool in any situation. 

What else about Vanessa? She's one of the most creative people I know. She's got a real talent for writing that even shows up in her perfectly-outlined club notebook entries. But her favorite thing to do is writing poetry. She has several fat notebooks at home full of her poetry. I think she's been published in a magazine before, and she has entered lots of online contests. I think she won $300 once! Vanessa is confident in her ability to write great poems, but she lacks confidence in other areas. She always complains that she's not pretty enough. She hates her complexion. She already hates the braces that she'll be getting soon. But she's trying out for the junior varsity drill team pretty soon, and she's very prepared. We all know she'll make it. I hope that making the drill team will boost her confidence. 

Haley Braddock is the club's vice-president. This is because we hold meetings in Haley's room, which she generously allows us to invade three times a week. She always tries to provide something for us to eat. Today, she had actually set out fresh strawberries with this delicious cream cheese/ whip cream dip that she had prepared for us. 

Haley and I have gone to some concerts together. Neither of us will go to the really wild ones because of all the bad stuff that goes on. But we've been to some tame ones. We especially like to see the local bands that play at this coffee house called Java Jireh. We have similar tastes in music, but not always in clothes. Haley dresses however she feels, which varies from day to day. She'll go all-out punk with me for a concert, though. She's got natural, blonde shoulder-length hair, wide greenish-blue eyes, and a sprinkle of cute freckles. She and Vanessa are best friends, but I think Vanessa sometimes gets a little jealous of Haley. For several reasons. Not only is Haley gorgeous, but also she's got a boyfriend. 

Moving on; next we have Rebecca Ramsey. We call her Becca. We actually invented an office for Becca to hold that the original club hadn't thought of. Becca is our club historian; she's constantly updating our club scrapbook. It looks like it's going to be a true work of art. Becca just added a picture of the entire club, meaning the original and the new club together, to the front cover. The picture was taken at the party that we had two weeks ago. Almost everyone was there. (Stacey McGill, Shannon Kilbourne, and Dawn Schafer were all unable to make it.) Becca says her next project is to take pictures of all the clients that the club sits for and give them their own pages. 

What Becca enjoys doing most is acting. Her sister, Jessi, is a fantastic dancer, and her little brother has just started taking voice lessons. She comes from a family of performers, that's for sure. Not that this matters in the least to anyone, but Becca is black. She's got long legs like her older sister, and a really outgoing personality. My favorite thing about Becca is her fun-loving attitude and overactive imagination. These things make her a great baby-sitter and a great friend. 

Becca's best friend is Charlotte Johanssen, the club secretary. Charlotte is our secretary because she's responsible, organized, and writes neatly and clearly. She is responsible for keeping track of everything the rest of us have to do. (Luckily, she no longer has to keep track of Marilyn. That was getting to be an impossible job.) She also schedules every job, and keeps all of our clients on file. 

What else about Charlotte? She's very pretty. She's been growing out her long, wavy chesnut colored hair for a long time now, and it is almost down to her waist. I think she's planning to cut it all off eventually and give it to an organization called Locks of Love. That's how kind and giving she is. Also, she's a boy magnet. And all she has to do is bat her big, brown eyes at the boys, and they all come running. She used to date a guy named Jake Kuhn, but he dumped her (rather rudely) last month. I think she's already looking for someone better, and she'll probably find someone. Charlotte may seem a little boy-crazy, but the truth is that the _boys_ are crazy over Char. Charlotte knows how to play hard to get. 

Our newest member is very unique and different from all of us. First of all, our new member was has not been a sitting charge of the original club like the rest of us. Secondly, our new member is a boy! As a matter of fact, he's Haley Braddock's new boyfriend! 

Zach Yamakawa is the club's alternate officer. That means that if any of us have to miss a meeting, Zach gets to take over that person's job while they are gone. This used to be my sister's job until she became an associate member and stopped attending meetings full-time. So far, noone has missed a meeting. People have been late, though. (Like me.) While Haley went to deal with Matt, Zach informed me that he had to be treasurer for five minutes today, and I thanked him. 

Zach is new to Stoneybrook; he comes from Ashfield, New York. He's Japanese-American, and very good-looking, actually. He's got two older brothers. One of his older brothers, Will, is still living in Ashfield during his senior year with a close friend. Will and Claudia have known each other for about five years, and they are still good friends. His oldest brother, James, is living in New Haven, Connecticut and is married to Claudia's older sister, Janine! In fact, they are expecting a baby in about two weeks! Zach's very excited about becoming an uncle. 

Well, that's everyone. Oh, everyone but me! Okay, I'm the club treasurer. Basically, I'm in charge of the club money. Every Monday, we all fork over our dues to a manilla envelope so that we can buy things for our Kid-Kits, these awesome toy boxes that we take to our sitting jobs. Or else we put the cash towards a club party, like the one we had for Zach. Unfortunately, that party emptied our treasury. 

Back to reality. 

"I took care of it," Haley sat down smugly. "He wasn't very happy with me, though. He was in the middle of talking to one of his friends at school that doesn't know how to sign." 

"It's too bad that Matt can't use the computer right now," Becca looked sympathetic. "I mean, that's one of the best ways for him to communicate. Especially with people who can't sign." 

"It's only an hour," Haley rolled her eyes. "He'll live." 

The phone rang, and Vanessa answered it. "Hello, Baby-sitters Club... Suuuure, we take new clients! Name please?" 

"It's about time we got a new client!" Charlotte blurted out (a little too loudly.) The rest of us shushed her, and she turned beet-red. 

"It's about time we got a new anything," Haley added in a whisper. "I was starting to get bored." 

"Hey, I've only been in this club two weeks, and already I'm old news?" Zach exclaimed, looking aghast. Haley shoved him playfully, flirting with him like she always did. 

Vanessa hung up the phone just then and said, "That was interesting." 

"Who's our new client?" Becca asked. 

"The mother's name is Brenda Davis," Vanessa said, as Charlotte started writing down the information in the club record book. "And she's got eight-year old identical twin daughters. Marissa and Carissa Davis. She needs a sitter for them on Saturday from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. It's sort of last minute, but I told her it would be fine. I think Saturday is a light day, scheduling wise." 

"Marissa and Carissa?" Zach wrinkled up his nose. "Those are their names?" 

"AHEM!" I cleared my throat just then, and Zach realized what he had said. He turned much redder than Charlotte had earier; the poor boy was practically purple by now, and that got everyone laughing uncontrollably. 

When we finally settled down a little, Charlotte spoke up. "Marissa and Carissa. Marilyn and Carolyn. Cute. It almost sounds like you're related to them." 

"It's a neat coincidence," I agreed, wishing that Marilyn had been at the meeting today. She would have gotten a kick out of it as well. 

"I think Carolyn should take this job if she's free," Vanessa announced. "I bet you could relate pretty well to these twins considering that you are one yourself." 

I nodded, thinking that it would be fun to babysit for another pair of twins. Charlotte checked to see if I was free, and it turned out that I was. The job was mine! 

"You know, the whole thing with Matt being online just gave me an idea," Vanessa was smiling oddly. "A brilliant one, in fact. I feel just like Kristy Thomas." 

"My parents are thinking about getting a separate line just for the computer," Haley put in, defensively. "Since it _is_ Matt's best tool for communication. So Matt tying up the line shouldn't be a problem for the club much longer." 

"Ooh, I wasn't worried about that," Vanessa assured her. "But now that you've said that, it makes my idea work even better." 

"Well, come on," Zach urged her. "Tell us." 

"The BSC," Vanessa began. "_Needs_ to be updated. Plently has changed in five years. We have many more options than the BSC of the past. What do you guys think of occassionaly having online meetings? Not always but sometimes." 

"Isn't it lucky that we all have AOL?" Charlotte added. "I think I see where you're going." 

"You mean meet in a chatroom instead of Haley's room?" Becca looked inspired. 

"Yeah!" Vanessa exclaimed. "I actually didn't even think of a chatroom. That's great! Think about it. Charlotte could have the record book with her at her house, and Haley could answer the phone. Haley tells us when the job is, Char looks to see who's free, and we talk it out and schedule someone. It works as long as the internet is on a different phone line, right Haley?" 

"I would have to ask my parents," Haley said. "I'd be taking up two out of the three phone lines at once. I don't know if they'd be happy about that. But if it were for the BSC, they might allow it. We couldn't do it all the time, though." 

"We wouldn't want to do it all the time," I put it. "I happen to like our meetings in Haley's room. But I see why this would be good to do every now and then. Who would call an online meeting?" 

Vanessa put her hand up. "I'll gladly do that. Haley, how soon are your parents thinking about getting a separate phone line for the computer?" 

"Soon," Haley answered. "I'll pitch our idea to them." 

"Great idea, Vanessa," Charlotte added. 

"Kristy," Vanessa grinned. "Please, call me Kristy." 


End file.
